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I
A NEW HISTORY OF PAINTING
IN ITALY
MADONNA AND CHILD
Brogi.
Academy, Florence.
A NEW HISTORY OF
PAINTINd IN ITALY
From the II to the XVI Century
By CROWE ftf C A V ALC ASELLE
EDITED BY EDWARD MUTTON
IN THREE VOLUMES
WITH 300 ILLUSTRATIONS
EARLY
CHRISTIAN ART
GIOTTO
HIS FOLLOWERS
LONDON: j. M. DENT ar co.
NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & CO.
MCMVIII
Printed by BALLXNTTNl, HANSON $ o.
4-t, tk Ballaatyne Press, Edinburgh
PREFACE
No excuse is necessary for the publication of a new edition of Crowe
and Cavalcaselle's History of Painting in Italy. That work is the
most important on the subject that has ever been written, and for
many years it has been out of print and unprocurable save for a
very large price at second-hand. 1 Yet no student is able to work
without constantly checking himself by it, for no book or series of
"books that has appeared since has ever been able, or has even
attempted, to take its place. For connoisseurship as for " scientific
criticism " it has never been approached, if we consider it as a
whole. It is true that later critics have arisen who have confirmed
its verdicts or questioned them; but so far not one of them, nor
all of them together, have done, in the forty-four years that have
passed since the book was written, what Crowe and Cavalcaselle did,
to wit, produced a History of Painting in Italy in Central Italy,
that is at once complete, covering the whole ground, and full of
detail.
The immense amount of work that has certainly been accom
plished during the last forty years is for the most part supplementary
to this book, and it has been my object to represent it without
fear or favour in my notes to these volumes. It seemed to me
that my first duty in a matter of this kind was to have no personal
opinions. I had, as my text, an almost classical work in the
History and Criticism of Art. I had, as my commentaries upon it,
the great and various mass of criticism that has been written since
it appeared. My first business was to keep the text absolutely
( intact and to be loyal to my authors, neither easily to find fault
with them nor to harry them with questions ; my second was
1 In 1903, with Mr. Langton Douglas and the late Mr. Arthur Strong
as editors, Mr. John Murray began to publish a second edition of this
work. Two volumes appeared, which consisted of most of the matter in the
first volume of the first edition. This edition of Mr. Murray's was to be
complete in six volumes. So far, however, no further volumes have been
published since the two issued in 1908.
VI
PREFACE
to select without fear or bias from the later criticism of which I
have spoken such facts and theories as seriously contradicted or
supplemented the work of my authors. This I have tried to do as
well as I could, and I hope and believe that the result may be
found useful and interesting by all who care seriously for the history
and criticism of Italian painting.
Perhaps I may say a word about the illustration of these
volumes. Here we were at an advantage over the authors. The
first edition of 1864 was illustrated with line drawings, while we
could use photographs. More than three hundred of these will
appear in the present work ; and we must thank Messrs. Alinari,
Anderson, Lombardi, and Mannelli, and especially Signor Brogi, for
the use of their photographs, without which any adequate illustra
tion would have been difficult. It was impossible, however, unless
we had published the book in quarto or folio and at a very large
price, to do even such justice as photographs may do to the pictures
we wished to reproduce. We wanted to give as many as possible,
in order that the student might use them as notes and reminders
of the pictures so fully described in the text. And it is as
attempting to fulfil this useful purpose that they must be judged.
EDWARD HUTTON.
London, 1908.
The Editor's notes are within square brackets.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Early Christian art to the close of the sixth century The catacombs, and
earliest mosaics Early Christian sculpture and miniatures , . .
CHAPTER II
Italian art from the seventh to the thirteenth century The latest cata
comb paintings Decline of art in mosaics Neo-Greek influence at
Borne Continuation of the decline at Rome Miniatures of the .
eighth century S. Elia of Nepi and its wall-paintings Early art in
South Italy, chiefly at Capua : on the coasts of Sicily Miniatures -
of the Siculo-Norman period, and contemporary Italian works of the
same kind Mosaics of the twelfth to the fourteenth century Wall-
paintings at Subiaco, at Parma, and in the Baptistery of Florence-
Jacobus Torriti 35-S9
CHAPTER III
The Cosmati Their works at Civitt Castellana, Anagni, Rome Pietro
Cavallini 80-94
CHAPTER IV
Sculpture in Central Italy from the twelfth century The forerunners of
Niccola Pisano at Pistoia, Lucca, Pisa, and Parma Niccola Pisano
and his assistants Earlier and contemporary art in South Italy
Works of Niccola, of Arnolfo, of Fra Guglielmo, of Giovanni Pisano
Orvieto cathedral 95-128
CHAPTER Y
V Decline of painting in Central Italy in the thirteenth century Crucifixes
* Painters of Lucca, Pisa, and Siena Guido Painters of Arezzo ;
Margaritone and Montano 129-160
CHAPTER VI
Early Florentine art Tafi Cimabue .^ 161-174
viii CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER YII
S. Francesco of Assisi Works of Cimabue andJGiotto in the Upper Church
Gaddo Gaddi and Rusuti 175-196
CHAPTER VIII
Giotto : His early years His wall-paintings in the Lower Church of Assisi,
and at Rome His return to Florence and frescoes in the Palazzo
delPodesta 197-226
CHAPTER IX
Giotto : Story of the He engages to go to Avignon, hut remains in
Italy He paints at Padua, in the Arena, and at S. Antonio; at
Verona, Ferrara, and Ravenna 227-248
CHAPTER X
Giotto : Florentine works ; in Santa Croce r for the Peruzzi, Bardi, Baron-
celli, and other chapels ; in Ognissanti Anecdotes . . . 249-265
CHAPTER XI
Giotto : His visit to Naples State of art in that capital Early painters :
Simone Frescoes in S. Chiara Chapel of the Incoronata Robertus
di Oderisio, Gennaro di Cola, and others Colantonio del Fiore
Nicholaus Tomasi Final residence of Giotto in Florence S.
Reparata Death of Giotto 266-286
CHAPTER XII
Giotto's influence on the sculptors of his time Andrea Pisano, Nino
Pisano, Tommaso, and others 287-295
CHAPTER XIII
Taddeo Gaddi, and his works at Florence and Pisa Cappellone dei
Spagnuoli 296-313
CHAPTER XIV
Paccio Capanna and other Giottesques Peter and Julian of Rimini . 314-322
CHAPTER XV
Buffalmacco- Chronology of the paintings of the Campo Santo in Pisa-
Francesco da Yolterra Bruno Giovanni 323-332
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER XVI
Stefano Florentine, and what remains of his works .... 333-335
CHAPTER XVII
Giovanni da Milano .......... 336-341
CHAPTER XVIII
Giottino : Difficulty of classifying the works assigned to him at Florence
and Assisi Giovanni Tossicani ....... 342-354
CHAPTER XIX
Orcagna, as painter, architect, and mosaist, at Florence and Orrieto -
Frescoes assigned to him at Pisa Andrea da Firenze Nardo Orcagna
and Bernardo of Florence ........ 355-379
CHAPTER XX
Train! : His alleged relationship with Orcagna ; his altarpieces at Pisa
Niccola Tommasi and Mariotto Orcagna ..... 380-386
CHAPTER XXI
Agnolo Gaddi and Cennino Cennini ....... 387-400
CHAPTER XXII
Antonio Venesiano and his claims to rank in the history of Florentine art
His frescoes at Siena, Pisa, and Florence ..... 401-411
CHAPTER XXIII
Gherardo Stamina ; His career His assistant, Antonio Vite . . 412-416
CHAPTER XXIV
Declining School of Giottesques ........ 417-444
CHAPTER XXV
Lorenzo and other Friars of the Order of the Camaldolese . . 445-451
ILLUSTRATIONS
MADONNA AND CHILD ...... Giotto Frontispiece
Academy, Florence.
HEAD OF CHRIST ........ To face page xvi
From the Catacomb of S. Pontiano at Home.
HEAD OF CHRIST xvi
From Catacomb of SS. Nereo e Achilleo at Home.
MOSAICS 1
From the Church of SS. Cosma e Damiano, Rome.
MOSAIC 20
From the Baptistery, Ravenna.
MOSAIC 20
From the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna.
JUSTINIAN AND HIS SUITE, WITH S. MAXIMIANUS . 21
From the mosaic in S. Vitale, Ravenna.
THEODORA AND HER SUITE 21
From the mosaic in S. Vitale, Ravenna.
CHRIST BETWEEN FOUR ANGELS ,, 28
From the mosaic in S. Apollinare jSTuovo, Ravenna.
THE PROCESSION OF VIRGINS ...... ., 28
From the mosaic in S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.
THE THREE KINGS 29
From the mosaic in S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.
HEAD OF CHRIST 48
From the Catacomb of S. Pontiano at Rome.
. CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN, WITH SAINTS .... 48
From the mosaic in S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome.
DOORS OF S. SABINA, ROME 49
S. FRANCIS 72
From the wall painting at the Sacro Speco, Subiaco.
THE REDEEMER AND SAINTS ...... 73
From the mosaic in S. Giovanni in Laterano, Rome
ADORATION OF THE MAGI 94
From the mosaic in S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome.
THE NATIVITY 94
From the mosaic in S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome.
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE NATIVITY . Niccola Piaano 95
Baptistery, Pisa.
xii ILLUSTRATION'S
MADONNA AND CHILD .... Giovanni Pisano To face page 118
Campo Santo, Pisa.
MADONNA AND CHILD ( IVORY) . . Giovanni Pisano 119
Duomo, Pisa.
MADONNA AND CHILD . .- . Coppo di Marcovaldo 170
Chiesa de' Servi, Siena.
MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH S. FRANCIS . . ? Oimabue 170
Assist.
MADONNA AND CHILD f Cimabue 171
Academy, Florence.
MADONNA AND CHILD Sienese School 171
S. Maria Novella, Florence.
THE Kiss or JUDAS Roman School 176
Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC .... Roman School ,, 177
Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
THE NATIVITY Roman School 177
Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
S. FRANCIS HONOURED BY THE POOR MAN . Giotto 186
Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assist
S. FRANCIS RENOUNCING THE WORLD . . Giotto 187
Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
S. FRANCIS AND THE BIRDS Giotto 192
Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
DEATH OF THE KNIGHT OF CELANO . . Giotto 193
Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
THE ALLEGORIES OF POVERTY AND CHASTITY . Giotto 208
Lower Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT Giotto 209
Lover Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS . . . Giotto 209
Lower Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
CHRIST ENTHRONED Giotto 224
S. Peter's, Home.
DANTE ....... Giotto (repainted) 225
Bargello, Florence.
THE NATIVITY Giotto 228
Arena Chapel, Padua.
THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE . . . Giotto 228
Arena Chapel, Padua.
TfiE ADORATION OF THE MAGI .... Giotto 229
Arena Chapel, Padua.
TSE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT Giotto 229
Arena Chapel, Padua.
THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS . . . Giotto t , 240
Arena Chapel, Padua.
JLJJJJUtC
?J.i.^LXlVl>O
Xlll
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST
Arena Chapel, Padua.
Giotto
To face page 240
THE RAISING OF LAZARUS .
Arena Chapel, Padua.
Giotto
241
THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
Arena Chapel, Padua.
Giotto
241
VIA CRUCIS
Arena Chapel, Padua.
Giotto
244
THE CRUCIFIXION
Arena Chapel, Padua.
Giotto
244
THE DEPOSITION
Arena Chapel, Padua.
Giotto
245
" NOLI ME TANGERE "
Arena Chapel, Padua.
Giotto
245
ZACHARIAS IN THE TEMPLE
S. Croce, Florence.
Giotto
252
BIRTH OF S. JOHN BAPTIST
S. Croce, Florence.
Giotto
252
THE DANCE OF SALOME
S. Croce, Florence.
Giotto
253
THE RAISING OF DRUSIANA
S. Croce, Florence.
Giotto
256
S. JOHN EVANGELIST ON PATHOS
S. Croce, Florence.
Giotto
25G
THE CONFIRMATION OF THE RULE
S. Croce, Florence.
OF S. FRANCIS Giotto
257
THE APPARITION OF S. FRANCIS AT ARLES . Giotto
S. Croce, Florence.
257
S. FRANCIS BEFORE THE SOLDAN
S. Croce, Florence.
Giotto
257
THE DEATH OF S. FRANCIS
8. Croce, Florence.
CRUCIFIX
Giotto
s Giotto
262
263
S. Felice, Florence.
JABAL THE SHEPHERD
Campanile, Florence.
. Andrea Pisano
292
THE CREATION OF MAN
Cathedral, Orvieto.
? Lorenzo del Maitano
293
THE MEETING OF JOACHIM AND ANNA . Taddeo Gzddi
S. Croce, Florence.
300
THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN
S. Croce, Florence.
. Taddeo Gaddi
300
ADORATION OF THE MAGI .
Academy, Florence
. Taddeo Gaddi
301
THE CRUCIFIXION
Academy, Florence
. Taddeo Gaddi
301
XIV
ILLUSTRATIONS
" NOLI MB TANGERE " .... TaddeoGctddi To face page 301
Academy, Florence
DETAILS OF THE TRIUMPH OF S. THOMAS AQUINAS . ? 310
Spanish Chapel, S. M. Novella, Florence.
RISING OF LAZAEUS .... Follower of Giotto 311
Lower Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
"NoLi ME TANGERE" . . . Follower of Giotto ,, 311
Lower Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
TEBALDO PONTANO BEFORE S. MARY MAGDALEN
Lower Church, S. Francesco, Assisi. School of Giotto ,, 338
BIBTH OF THE VIRGIN . . . Giovanni da Milano 338
S. Croce, Florence.
S. JOACHIM EXPELLED FROM THE TEMPLE
S. Croce, Florence. Giovanni da Milano 339
" NOLI ME TANGEBE " . . . Giovanni da Milano 339
S. Croce, Florence.
THE DEPOSITION Giottino 350
Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
THE VISION OF BETTINO DE' BABDI . . . ? Giottino 351
S. Croce, Florence.
PRESENTATION OF CABDINAL OBSINI AND HIS BROTHER TO
OUR LORD Giottino 351
Lower Church, S. Francesco, Assisi.
DETAILS FROM THE FRESCO OF THE PARADISE . Orcagna 358
S. Maria Novella, Florence.
PARADISE . Orcagna ,, 359
S. Maria Novella, Florence.
Two ANGELS (Details of above) .... Orcagna 359
S. Maria Novella, Florence.
MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN Orcagna 370
Orsanmichele, Florence.
DETAILS FROM THE TRIUMPH OF DEATH
Campo Santo, Pisa. Follower of the LorenzeUi 371
ALTARPIECE Agnolo Gaddi 390
S, Caterina Antella, near Florence.
LEGEND OF S. RAINERI . . . Andrea da Firenz i 391
Campo Santo, Pisa.
RETURN OF S. RAINERI . . . Antonio Ventziano 410
Campo Santo, Pisa.
ALTARPIECE ..... Bernardo Daddi ,, 411
Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
MADONNA AND CHILD . . . Birnzrdo Daddi ,, 418
S. Giorgio Ruballa, near Florence.
S. CATHERINE Spinello Aretino ,, 419
S. Caterina Antella, near Florence.
ILLUSTRATIONS xv
S. ANTHONY, ABBOT .... Spinello Aretino To face page 419
S. Caterina Autella, near Florence.
INCIDENTS IN LIFE or ALESSANDBO III. Spinello Aretino 430
Siena.
THE CBTJCIFIXIOK . . . ? Niccolo di Piero G-irini 431
Sacristy, S. Croce, Florence.
THE RESUBBECTION . . . 9 Niccolo di Piero Gerini 431
Sacristy, S. Croce, Florence.
CRUCIFIX Lorenzo di Niccold 444
S. Giorgio Buballa, near Florence.
S. MABGHEBITA ? Lorenzo di Bicci 444
Duomo, Prato,
ALTABPIECE Lorenzo Monaco ,, 445
Academy, Florence.
THE CoBOHTATiosr OF THE VIBGIN . Lorenzo Monaco 448
Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
ADOBATION OF THE MAGI . . . Lorenzo Monaco 449
Uffizi Gallery, Elorence.
A NEW HISTORY OF PAINTING
IN ITALY
CHAPTER I
EARLY CHRISTIAN ART TO THE VI. CENTURY
IN the most prosperous times of Rome the arts never attained to
the perfection of the models created by the genius of Greece. Long
before the golden age of the Antonines, sculpture and painting had
degenerated from the high standard upheld in the great times of
the Empire. From that period till the rise of Christianity they
pursued an uniform path of degeneracy ; yet they retained such
vitality as to impose their laws on the nascent Christian school. It
is not the object of these pages to trace the decline of Classic art or
to record its fall. A study of Christian art from its beginning in
the catacombs of Rome and Naples, to its decline and fall in the
first ten centuries, and the final development of its genius, as it
rose to the perfection of Giotto, Ghirlandaio and Raphael, such is
the purpose to which these pages are devoted.
The unconquerable aversion of the primitive Christians from
images and pictures rapidly subsided in the second and third
centuries ; and though it seemed yet a rash and sacrilegious act to
attempt the delineation of the Eternal, it was no sin to represent
the Redeemer under the form of the Good Shepherd or of Orpheus,
or to symbolise His miraculous Birth, His Passion, Death, Resurrec
tion, and Ascension by episodes of the Old, prefigurating those of
the New, Testament.
The painters of the catacombs, whose works afford the earliest
examples of Christian art, were but too evidently under the
influence of pagan models and customs to give their subjects that
depth of feeling, that Christian type which marked the period of
the great revival. They twined the Christian theme in garlands
of pagan flowers. Cupid fluttered in the vine leaves around the
figure of the Good Shepherd. The chlamys and tunic clothed the
2 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
forms of the Virgin, the pallium that of the prophets ; whilst the
Phrygian dress and cap covered the heads and frames of the
shepherds or the Magi. The attitude, motions, forms, and distri
bution were those of the classic time, the degenerate imitation of
the greatness of past ages. Whilst the face of the Redeemer
distantly revealed the features of the Olympian Jove or of Apollo,
the prophets were but too frequently reminiscent of the Greek
philosopher. Labouring in the dark and intricate passages or
vaults in which the first Christians held their conventicles, the semi-
pagan artists boldly stained the rough coated walls with light and
lively tinted water-colours, hastily defined their animated figures
with dashing lines, and left the spectator to imagine the details
and modelling of the form. Their representations had something
classical and bold in movement. Their groups closely resembled
those of the pagan time, and their execution was naturally rude,
hasty, and slight.
Such, from the remains that are now visible, was the character
of the paintings of the second or third century 1 in the catacomb of
SS. Nereo e Achilleo 2 in the vault vulgarly called Stanza dei Pesci,
where the Redeemer is seated 3 in the centre of the roof in the attire
of a shepherd, carrying the Lamb, and surrounded by an ornament
of tendrils and Cupids. 4 Such, from the feeble traces that remain,
were the paintings of the third or fourth century in the vault
usually called Stanza delle Pecorelle, 5 where the Redeemer was
depicted in the lunette as the Good Shepherd, carrying the Lamb,* 5
accompanied by two figures and a flock ; whilst below, Moses
strikes the rock and Jonah is swallowed by the whale. Here indeed
the attitudes were not without grandeur, in so far as simple lines
can render the human form ; nor were the masses of light and
1 [The paintings in the Cappella Greca of the catacombs of S. Priscilla
were executed in the first thirty years of the second century. Wilpert, who
discovered them, thinks they are of the time of Trajan, Cf. WILPEBT,
" Fractio panis," La plus ancienne representation du sacrifice Eucharistique
d la Cap. Gfreca (Paris, 189G), and VENTUBI, Storia deW Arte Italiana (Milano),
vol. i. pp. 10, 11. For the paintings generally in the Boman catacombs,
see WILPEUT, Le Pitture delle Catacombe Romane, 2 vols. (Rome, 1903). In
these vols. are more than 300 plates, many of them folio size, a large number
of them in colour. This magnificent work has superseded all others on the
subject.]
2 Of old S. Callixtus.
3 [The Redeemer was standing.]
4 Traces of the head, legs, and body of the principal figure remain.
5 SS. Kereo e Achilleo, late S. Callixtus.
6 Similar examples of the good pastor may be found in old sarcophagi, for
instance in Sarc. No, 76 in the Campo Santo of Pisa, where the sandalled
Saviour is represented beardless, youthful, and with the face of Apollo.
THE CATACOMBS 3
shade without breadth, the colour without harmony, or the drapery
without simplicity. 1
Yet if painters still hesitated to imitate the features of the
God-man as He might have existed after reaching the age of
adolescence, no such scruple affected them when it was necessary
to depict Him as an infant on the knees of His mother. The Virgin
herself, though less venerable to the early Christians than to the
later followers of the Gospel, was already in honour in the third and
fourth centuries, and might be seen enthroned and either receiving
the offerings of the Magi or attended by those prophets of the Old
Testament who had foretold her coming. Amongst the very earliest
catacomb pictures is one in San Callisto which represents the Virgin
sitting in profile on a throne holding the infant Saviour and receiv
ing the offerings of the Magi, who stand before her in Phrygian
caps and dresses. In the medallion centre of the roof sits the
Good Shepherd with two lambs on each side of him. No halo or
nimbus indicated as yet the saintly character of Mary or of the
infant Saviour. 2
The Adoration of the Magi in S. Callisto, and another almost
similar in the catacomb of S. Agnese, in which the presence of the
Magi is more certainly determined by the guiding star painted
above and on one side of the Virgin, were in the antique style, and
afforded further examples of the veneration in which scenes com
bining the presence of the Virgin and Saviour were held.
The Virgin with the Child was depicted at the same period in
the catacomb of SS. Marcellino e Pietro receiving offerings from
two figures on each side of her in Phrygian costume. At a later
period Isaiah and Jeremiah were represented on each side of episodes
from the life of the Virgin, and the two figures here depicted may
have been intended to represent those prophets. A gentle cast of
features, a slender frame marked this early and still classical repre
sentation of the Virgin. 3
A gradual yet sensible decline may be traced with the lapse of
1 . A careful analysis of the technical process in use at Rome in the third
and fourth centuries may be obtained from these wall-paintings. On a light
ground a general warm yellow-red tone was thrown over the whole of the
flesh parts of a figure. The shadows were worked in with a deeper and thicker
tint of the same warm colour in broad masses and without detail. The out
line was rapidly drawn in black, as were likewise the eyes, nose, and mouth.
The draperies were coloured in the primary keys, and with tolerable knowledge
of the laws of harmony.
2 The figure of the Virgin is in part effaced and the Saviour almost gone.
3 The Virgin's head is draped, the colour of the painting gay and har-
4 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
time, even in the rude and hasty works of the catacombs. The
figures, without losing the character of the Roman antique, become
sometimes square and short in their proportions, at others inordi
nately long ; and they are executed if possible with more haste and
greater neglect of detail than before. In the vault called the Chapel
of the Four Evangelists in SS. Nereo e Achilleo, the Saviour was
represented in a recess in the character of Orpheus taming with
the sounds of his lyre the wild beasts that surround him. Camels,
birds, a lion are well grouped about the principal figure. The
Saviour, still symbolically represented, wields the power of faith
to convert the heathen and savages. The prophet Micah stands
above the recess on the left. Moses on the right strikes the rock,
and in the centre the Virgin holds the infant Saviour before the
Magi. On a neighbouring wall, Daniel stands in a recess between
two lions, whilst above on the right Moses ties his sandals. On the
opposite space are traces of Elijah's ascent to heaven in a classic
biga. Above is a female with open arms. Further are Noah, look
ing out of the window of the ark, and Lazarus rising from the grave
in the presence of the Saviour. On the fourth wall, traces of a figure
remain, and in the medallion centre of the vaulted roof the feeble
remnants of a bust representing a man with long hair divided in
the centre, a small beard, and a piece of drapery covering his left
shoulder. A doubt may exist as to whether the painter intended
to portray the features of the Redeemer or those of a person whose
piety might have rendered him conspicuous in life and worthy of
commemoration after death.
But the Christians had now completely overcome the scruples
which forbade them to represent the visible form and features of
the Saviour in His manhood. As an infant in the arms of His
mother He had already been exhibited. It now became meritorious
rather than sacrilegious to delineate His countenance and frame.
We may admit that a pious forgery 1 helped the artists of the
fourth century in the difficult task of representing the Saviour, yet
in the types which were at first adopted the antique was closely
imitated, whilst a little later, when more importance was given to
the head, it was thought sufficient to, present the regular forms of
a man in the vigour of manhood, calm, of regular proportions and
features, with an imposing brow, a straight nose, passionless eyes
expressing solemnity, and a broad and muscular neck. The beard-
1 See, as to the letter of the Consul Lentulus, the historians of the
Empire.
THE CATACOMBS 5
less and curly-headed type of the Good Shepherd changed gradually
from an imitation of Apollo to an imitation of Jupiter. It became
bearded, slightly in some cases fully in others. The chin and
mouth were alternately bared or concealed according to the fancy
of the artist or the will of his employer ; or the hair was divided
in the middle and fell in curls on the shoulders.
Under the transition form yet still reminiscent of Apollo, the
Saviour was represented in the fourth century or beginning of the
fifth between the four Evangelists in a vault of S. Callisto called
Stanza dei Quattro Evangelisti, young, beardless, and with a curly
head. In full front and with outstretched arms He is seated on a
Roman chair, with His right hand giving the benediction, with His
left holding the Gospels, whilst on each side of Him two figures
stand in classical attitudes and natural motion. One of these
figures on the left points triumphantly to a star painted above Him,
and seems thus symbolically to mark the mission of the Saviour
in the very manner in which it was revealed to the wise men of the
East. 1 A simple nimbus, the first that meets the eye in the cata
combs, and the Greek initials of the Saviour's name, indicate the
holy character of the Redeemer. In His face, however, not a trace
is to be seen of that noble resignation, of that consciousness of His
mission which animated the Redeemer as painted in the fourteenth
century. It may be urged indeed that in a pictorial representation
such as this necessarily rude one of the catacombs, damaged besides
by loss of colour, it is difficult to judge the powers of the artist ;
but as the examples are numerous, it remains undeniable that early
Christian artists were not imbued with power or sentiment to render
the sublime idea of the Redeemer, and that, influenced by classical
types, they imitated them in the features of the Saviour. 2 A little
later they strove to express something more than majesty, and in
the effort they fell into an exaggerated mode of delineating human
passions. They declined in the power of representing form in
proportion as time enlarged the gulf between them and the great
classical ages. In a group of the fourth or fifth century in the
catacomb of SS. Nereo e Achilleo, representing the Virgin, Child, and
1 This painting is damaged, and the head of the Saviour almost dis
coloured. There are traces of a red tunic and blue mantle. The execution
is slight, the colour, where it remains, clear. A copy of this painting exists in
the Museum of S. Giovanni in Laterano, sufficient to illustrate the style but
not the technical execution of the original.
2 \Cj. VENTTJEI, op. cit., vol. L p. 34, note 2. He gives an explanation
of the development of the early representations of the Good Shepherd and
a bibliography of the subject.]
6 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
four figures in Phrygian dress making an offering, 1 this decline is
npt as yet very noticeable. It may be traced distinctly in a paint
ing of the period, in the same catacomb, 2 representing the Saviour
enthroned in the midst of the apostles, in remains of figures on the
lower part of the same wall, busy, it would seem, with the ark, and
in the Good Pastor amidst the shepherds and their flock, carrying
the Lamb on His shoulders. Rapidity of execution had now been
joined to defective forms and absence of fit proportion. The heads
were small and the bodies long.
Whilst the art of Rome thus followed in its decline that of public
welfare and prosperity, it went through similar phases at Naples,
in whose catacombs a few examples remain. Two life-sized bust
figures of SS. Peter and Paul, painted in the fourth or fifth centuries, 3
prove the imitation of classical models, whilst they derive additional
interest from the fact that these saints had already become fixed
and immutable types. In the austere features, the square head
and beard, the short hair of S. Peter, in his yellow tunic, the curious
inquirer may trace the original of many subsequent delineations of
that apostle. In the long head, grave features, and pointed beard
of the second figure he may note the unalterable lineaments of the
apostle Paul. Nimbi akeady proclaim their saintly character, nor
will it be found that any sensible difference existed between the
technical execution of the Naples catacombs and that of the
artists of Rome. In both capitals painters followed the rules
of their pagan predecessors, whose works still adorn the ruins
of Pompeii. 4
A glance will suffice for a female figure of later date with out
stretched arms in a niche in the same catacomb. Her name Vitalia
and the words " in pace " indicate the commemorative nature of
the picture, and this is confirmed by the costume and the drapery
which covers the head as well as the frame. 5
The tomb of a most famous Neapolitan saint Januarius
possibly of the fifth or sixth century, is close by, protected by a
figure of the Saviour erect in a recess with outstretched arms and
dressed in a tunic and sandals. A youthful beardless face, sur-
1 Possibly the four prophets, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Malachi, and Daniel [or
the Magi].
* SS. Nereo e Achilleo. Cap'pella dei Dodici Apostoli.
3 Naples catacombs, braccio sinistro, seconda sepoltura.
* The letter P indicates the name of both apostles. S. Paul is in a mantle
of blue. The flesh tints have a general reddish tone, the high lights and
shadows are put in with body [only the outlines remain].
6 The head of this figure and other parts are discoloured.
THE CATACOMBS 7
rounded by a nimbus with the Greek P, the alpha and omega, two
candelabra above, reveal the intention of the painter to depict the
Redeemer. Two females on each side of Him, with their arms held
up before them, complete a composition which, taken as a whole,
betrays the same progress of decline at Naples as was noticed at
Rome.
The decline was not, however, as rapid as might have been ex
pected ; and at Rome, in the end of the fifth or first half of the sixth
century, the painters of the catacombs still produced works which
testified how deeply the classic forms were impressed upon, them
and how hard it would be to supplant them by others of a character
more suited to the development of the Christian idea. SS. Peter,
Gorconius, Marcellinus, and Tiburtius were represented on the walls
of a vault in the catacomb of SS. Marcellino e Pietro * at the side
of the Lamb standing on a rock from which the four rivers issue. In
the long frames and small heads, in the defective feet and hands of
these figures, the declining antique may still be traced. But in the
centre of the arch of the vault is the Saviour seated on a Roman
chair, wearing the tunic, pallium, and sandals, giving the benediction
with His right hand and in His left holding a book. The head,
surrounded by a simple nimbus, and, on each side of it, the Greek
alpha and omega, is of a long shape, but of a youthful type. The
broad and open brow, the calm and regular eye, have a certain
majesty. The hair falls on the shoulders in locks, and a pointed
beard adorns the chin. The outline of the frame is also fine. As
regards pure form indeed this was one of the best types of head of
the decline of the sixth century. It was equal to some produced
at Ravenna, 2 and nearly approached some produced at the great
revival in the fourteenth century. To the right and left of the
Redeemer stand S. Peter and S. Paul, distinguished as they had
already been at Naples by those peculiar types which remain
characteristic of them for centuries. An appearance of excessive
length and exaggerated action is imparted by the nature of the
space which the figures occupy. The converging shape of the
furnace vault made it difficult for the painter to combine good
distribution of space with faultless shape and movement.
A century after this, the Saviour was still depicted, as for instance
1 Cappella di SS. Pietro e Marcellino. There remain traces of a nimbus
and the Greek symbol above the Lamb. The name of "Petrus" is inscribed
above the head of that saint. A copy of this painting is in the Museum of
S. Giovanni in Laterano.
8 With some modification of age at S. Apollinare Nuovo.
8 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
in S. Ponziano, in the act of benediction and of imposing aspect,
but the painter had already lost the ease of hand, and had never
acquired the knowledge of form, of his predecessors. He had sunk
to a certain conventionalism of delineation which was betrayed in
the straight nature of the falling hair, the regular succession of the
curls of a small beard, the semicircular curves of the brows and
eyelids, and the breadth of dark outlines. The brow was still open
and fair, the nose straight, the neck broad ; but the eyes had
already an unpleasant gaze, the lower lids being distant from the
iris and the upper unnecessarily arched. An effort in fact had thus
been made to render the idea of power by inspiring the spectator
with terror. 1
Long before this time, however, the painters had ceased to
conceal themselves in the catacombs, and the higher orders of the
Italian clergy had resolved that paganism could not be eradicated
with greater ease than by the multiplication of pictures. The
curious may study Paulinus, Gregory, and the partisans of images
to acquire an insight into the motives which led them to adorn the
old basilicas and newly erected churches with biblical subjects.
The mosaics with which the holy edifices were adorned had no
other character than the paintings of the catacombs, nor is the
influence of classic forms less visible in them than it was in the
ruder or more hasty works of the early wall painters. Critics have
been long deceived by a so-called mosaic in the Christian Museum
of the Vatican into the belief that the Saviour was represented in
the earliest times in the green tunic, long hair, and beard, and the
classical forms of a Greek philosopher. 2 A Latin inscription vouches
for the truth of a theory which analysis entirely overthrows. The
celebrated ikon is but a plaster imitation of mosaic, and may have
been a copy of an old classic portrait. A painting in the same
museum said to be of the fourth century is equally unsatisfactory
to the critic. 3
No mosaics of earlier date than the fourth century are to be
1 Catacomb of S. Ponziano, sixth or seventh century. The figure is
colossal. The nimbus is here adorned for the first time with the Greek cross.
A star is painted at each side of the head. Although the type is declining*
the technical execution of colour remains the same as before. The surface of
the wall is very rough and the execution hasty.
2 " Icon vetustissima Domini nostri Jesu Cristi, in parentinis sacrorum em
materioram Romanes urbis speciem exhibens musivi operis antiquis."
* Originally executed in the catacomb of S. Sebastian, it represents the
Saviour holding a scroll and touching the shoulder of one near Him whilst
other figures are seated around. This painting, semicircular in form, seems
to represent the Last Supper.
EARLY ROMAN MOSAICS 9
found at Rome, nor do these afford material for a fair and impartial
judgment. There are indeed but three edifices in Italy that contain
mosaics of the fourth century, and these are so damaged that very
little of the original remains. Those of the Baptistery built at
Rome by Constantine in the fourth century, and now called Santa
Costanza, leave little doubt as to the time when they were executed.
Here the more essentially pagan peculiarities of the early centuries
were curiously marked.
The Saviour was represented in the centre of one of the arched
doors, as the ruler of the world, sitting on the orb, in tunic and sandals,
and giving the Gospels to one of the apostles, probably S. Peter,
standing to the left in front of two other figures. 1 Another representa
tion of the Saviour adorns the arch of a second door in the same
edifice. He stands and gives a scroll to an old and venerable figure
on the left, whilst His right is stretched out in the direction of two
apostles, probably S. Peter and S. Paul The words " Dominus pacem
dat " indicate the general aim of the Gospel which is to spread peace
among all men, whilst a tree on each side of the Saviour and four
lambs at his feet further confirm the kindly nature and the steady
growth of the faith.
In both these mosaics the Saviour's head is surrounded by a
simple nimbus, whilst the apostles have none. In the spandrils
of the arches of the cupola are ornaments of vine issuing from
vases. Figures of Amor gather the grapes whilst birds flutter
amongst the branches, children play musical instruments ; and
females may be seen amongst the leaves. The Christian and profane
are thus commingled as they were in the earliest catacomb picture
in SS. Nereo e Achilleo, and the general appearance of the remains
proves that the same spirit of classic imitation animated the
mosaists and the painters. 2
The, Baptistery of Naples, also of the time of Constantine 3
an irregular octagonal building surmounted by a cupola contains
mosaics whose style may be traced amidst the repairs of restorers
both in mosaic and in painting. 4
1 Behind S. Peter are two and to the right of the Saviour seven trees.
2 These mosaics are rudely executed and damaged by restorations of
various dates. Some of the restorations are mosaic, others merely of painted
plaster.
3 An old inscription in this baptistery, which is now called S. Giovanni
in Fonte, supports the tradition that Constantine erected the building in 303.
This fact is confirmed by the chronicles of S, Maria del Principio in Gio.
Villani. See LTJIGI CATALA.NI, Le Chiese di Napoli, 8vo, Naples 1845, vol.
pp. 46, 47.
4 Of the four symbolical figures of the Evangelists, that which represents
10 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
Amongst the prophets on the broad sides of the octagon some
of whom hold crowns and others offerings, varied attitudes, suit
able action, and classic draperies remind the spectator of the fine
figures of previous ages. Scenes from the life of the Saviour, such
at least as might serve to impress the multitude with the idea of
His supernatural power and benevolence, also adorned the cupola,
but are so altered by restoring as to be worthless to the critic. 1
Again, in the fourth century the Saviour was represented in
S. Pudenziana at Rome enthroned, in the act of benediction, holding
the Gospel in His left hand and supported on each side by a regular
array of saints, of whom the lowest in rank, S. Pudenziana and
S. Praxedis, close the procession on the two extremes. 2 The atti
tude of the Saviour, the outlines of His face and form were grand,
noble, and regular. The long hair, the beard that covered the
chin and upper lip, the straight nose and regular features were
quite in the antique style. The broad masses of light and shade,
the luminous and rosy flesh tones, where they are not marred by
restoration, produce a good harmony, nor were the forms enclosed
as yet in those dark outlines which marked the later progress of
the decline. The scene of the Saviour's glorification was not laid
in heaven. The blue sky, in which white clouds were depicted,
was adorned with the symbols of the cross and the four Evangelists.
A tapestry hung behind the Saviour ; and buildings formed the
background. The distribution of the space and the general array
of the figures was not inferior to, nor essentially different from,
those of the pagan period. It must be repeated, the state of this
mosaic is not such as to permit a fair and impartial judgment. 3
The mosaics of the arch of triumph and great aisle in Santa
Maria Maggiore at Rome, executed in the middle of the fifth
century, are more satisfactory, more interesting monuments of
their time. They may be accepted as a convincing proof of the
difficulty under which the mosaists laboured in the attempt to
S. John in the form of an angel has the head of an aged man the regular
features of the classic Roman time.
1 In the centre of the cupola is the Greek monogram and cross.
1 [The two heroic figures appear to be the Churches ex circumciaione and
ex genfflbus as at S. Sabina in Aventino. See infra, p. 12.]
* This mosaic has been repaired at different periods and some parts
entirely removed. The head and figure which preserve their character most
completely are those of S, Pudenziana. That saint and S. Praxedis are
represented holding crowns in their hands. The head of the Saviour is by
no means exempt from restoring. The whole group to the right of the
Saviour, including the lower part of that figure, is new. Though restored,
however, this mosaic has the character, the costumes, and the style of that
of Santa Costanza.
EARLY ROMAN MOSAICS 11
render scriptural subjects of which the typical compositions had
not as yet been invented. So long indeed as the idea of a heavenly
messenger had no other representative than the old Roman Victory,
so long as the saints of the Bible were only conceived as proto
types of the deities of the pagans, and the Israelites of the Old
Testament were confounded with the legionaries of the Csesars, so
long was it impossible to give Christian art its fit character. 1
1 [The mosaics of the triumphal arch and of the aisles of S. Maria
Maggiore are not of the fifth but of the second and third centuries, as has
lately been shown by Dr. Richter and Miss Taylor in The Golden Age of Classic
Christian Art (Duckworth, 1904). As work of the fifth century, expressing
the theology of Jerome and Augustine, they are not explicable ; but as
work of the second and third, summing up as it were the theology of Justin
Martyr and the Apologists, they are clear enough. The pictures do not
make a narrative like the frescoes of Giotto in the Upper Church of S. Fran-
cosco at Assisi ; but are either themselves typological or scenes in which the
chief figure is a prototype of Christ. The mosaics of the nave fall into four
groups, the centre of each group being a notable figure of the Old Testament,
a prototype of Christ : Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua. The first series,
in which Abraham is the central figure, consists to-day of three pictures, and
is incomplete, but these three are in great part of original workmanship,
which cannot be said of the other series, which are however more complete.
I content myself with giving the subjects, often explicable by a text of
scripture ; and, having thus given the reader the key to the interpretation,
would refer him for all details to the work above mentioned of Dr. Richter
and Miss Taylor.
FIRST SERIES
i. Abraham with Melchizedek. Gen. xiv. 8.
ii. Abraham and the Three Angels. Gen. xviii. 1 and 2, 9 and 13.
Remember the obstinate monotheism of the Jewish Christian. The
whole series is indicative of the struggle between the Jewish and
Roman Churches.
iii. Abraham and Lot part. Gen. xiii. 7. A magnificent composition.
The parting of the two races. Abraham and the unborn Prince of
Life leave Lot to go to Sodom with the Judaic world.
SECOND SERIES
Here again we see the struggle between Christianity and Judaism.
" Leah is your people and congregation, but Rachel is our Church, for these
and for the servants in both Christ serves, even now." Justin Martyr, Dial,
with Trypho, cxxxiv.
i. Jacob's blessing. Gen. xxvii. 28-29. Well-preserved antique copy,
ii. Esau's blessing. Gen. xxxiv. 41. This and Jacob's Ladder are
seventeenth-century work.
iii. Rachel announces Jacob's arrival. Gen. xxix. 12. All restoration,
iv. Jacob enters Laban's household. Gen. xxix. 13-14. Greatly re
stored.
v. Jacob serves for Rachel. Gen. xxix. 18-20. Greatly restored,
vi. Jacob asks for the hand of Rachel. Gen. xxix. 21. Greatly restored,
vii. Jacob's marriage with Rachel, Gen. xxix. 22-28. Greatly restored,
viii. Compact between Jacob and Laban. Gen. xxx. 31-32. Greatly
restored.
ix. Dividing Jacob's sheep from Laban's. Gen. xxx. 36-36. Greatly
restored.
12 HISTOBY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
Of two figures of colossal stature in Santa Sabina at Rome,
symbolising, as the inscriptions testify, the Ecdesia ex circum-
cisione and Ecdesia ex gentibus, little need be said except that
they have the character of the fifth century, and recall by their
good proportions, movement, and a fine cast of draperies the Roman
antique. Both the figures are executed on the wall inside the
portal of the church. The first, a female enveloped even to the
head in purple drapery and wearing a stole with the cross upon
it, has been much restored, and is more modern in appearance
x. The Bods (two scenes). Gen. xxx. 37-38. Fairly well-preserved
antique copy,
xi. Jacob tells Leah and Rachel of God's command to depart. Gen. xxxi.
4-11, 13. Antique copy. Good, but spoiled by gold,
xii. Jacob sends a messenger to Esau. Gen. xxxii. 3. In stucco and
false mosaic,
xiii. Meeting of Jacob and Esau, Altogether restoration.
The following scenes are not from the Old Testament, but as it were
didactic.
i. Jacob as the Bridegroom pastures his flock, with a servant. Rachel
the Church moves at the head of the flock leading the way. Laban
welcomes them with joy. Leah the Synagogue is left in appre
hension.
ii. Laban embraces Jacob the shepherd, Rachel welcomes him gladly ;
Leah with foreboding.
iii. Jacob chooses his work, the euro of souls and his reward, the Church.
iv. He claims her.
v. Marriage of Jacob and Rachel of Christ and His Church. Leah has
an honourable place, for she was Jacob's wife before Rachel.
There follow four subjects dealing with Hamor and Shechem and the
sons of Leah. "*
i. Hamor and Shechem before Jacob. Gen. xxxiv. 6. Much restored.
ii. Jacob and his sons. Gen. xxxiv. 7. Entirely restored.
iii. Negotiations between Shechem and the sons of Leah. Gen. xxxiv.
8-16. Better condition, but restored.
Iv. Hamor and Shechem address their subjects. Gen. xxxiv. 20.
Altogether restored.
THTBD SEEIES
This series is gathered around the figure of Moses. It consists to-day of
thirteen pictures. The original first picture is lost ; so are seven others.
i. The Adoption by Pharaoh's daughter. Has suffered, but is of very
precious quality. .
ii. Moses among the Philosophers. Much injured,
iii. Moses' Marriage. Exodus ii. 21. His Ethiopian bride prefigures
the Church drawn from among the Gentiles. Fair condition,
iv. The Calling of Moses. Ex. iii. f~8. Badly preserved copy.
v. The Crossing of the Red Sea. Ex. xiv. 27-29. Partly antique,
vi. The Covenant. Ex. xix. 3-8. Bad condition,
vii. The Miracle of the Quails. Ex. xvi 3. Ruined,
viii. The bitter waters of Marah. Ex. xv. 23-25. Good copy.
EARLY ROMAN MOSAICS 13
than the second, which is likewise a female in Roman purple and
pointing with her right hand to a book open in her left. 1
Amongst the remains of the same century at Rome are the
mosaic decorations of the chapel annexed to the Baptistery in
S. Giovanni in Laterano, the cupola of which is adorned with
borders of tendrils on a blue ground, with the Lamb and four doves
in the centre.
If the mosaics of the arch of triumph in the basilica of S. Paolo
ix. The Rejection of the Embassy to Edom. Num. xx. 14-21. The
ambassadors and envoys are prophets. Only general composition
is left of the original.
x. The Defeat of Amalek. Ex. xviii. 9-11. Very little is antique here.
xi. The Mission of the Envoys. Num. xiii. 1-3. Restored altogether.
xii. The Stoning of Moses. Num. xiv. 10. Background antique,
xiii. The Second Covenant and the Passing of Moses. Deut. xxix. 1, and
xxxiv. 1-5. Poor copy.
FOURTH SERIES
This is concerned with Joshua as a type of Christ.
i. The Passage of Jordan. Josh. iv. 4-5. Best preserved of this series,
ii. Joshua's Envoys. Josh. ii. 1-4. Substantially antique,
iii. Joshua before the Angel of the Lord. Josh. v. 12-15. Poor restored
copy.
iv. Return of Envoys. Josh. ii. 15-16. Much of antique character,
v. Fall of Jericho. Josh. vi. 17-20. Poor copy,
vi. Procession of the Ark. Original with interpolations,
vii. Siege of Gibeon. Josh. x. 1-9. Restored, but antique character,
viii. Appearance of Joshua. Josh. x. 5-10. Good copy,
ix. Pursuit, and intervention of God. Josh. x. 10-11. Fair, even good,
copy.
x. The Staying of Sun and Moon. Josh. x. 1213. Antique but ruined,
xi. Condemnation of Five Kings. Josh. x. 22-23. Copy,
xii. Division of Spoil. Ruined.
Then after the Types the Anti-Types. On the triumphal arch we see
the Mysteries of the Faith ; not the life of Christ. All much restored.
TBIUMPHAL ARCH
i. On the keystone the Throne of God.
ii. (Left top.) The Mystery of the Virgin Birth with the two Annuncia
tions, one to Mary and one to Joseph. Cf. Apocryphal Gospel
of James.
iii. (Right top.) The Repudiation of Christ by the Jews,
iv. (Under No. ii.) Coming of the East to Christ.
v. (Under No. iii.) Philosophy a guide to Christ. A Philosopher leads
a young man out of the city into the country to meet Christ, who
comes towards them, a child, between Joseph and Mary*
vi. (Under No. iv.) Massacre of Innocents.
vii. (Under No. v.) Herod, the Priests, and the Magi. Matt. ii. 7.
viii. (Under No. vi.) Jerusalem,
ix. (Under No. vii.) Bethlehem.]
1 An inscription on the wall between these two figures would place their
execution in the time of Pope Celestin, A.D. 427-432.
14 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
fuori le Mura at Rome can be considered as the best example of
the kind in the capital of the Popes during the papacy of the great
Leo, they betray a speedier decline than that which is traceable
in the painting of the same period. Classical still at Santa Maria
Maggiore as regards distribution and type, mosaics ceased to
possess those qualities in the latter end of the fifth century. The
object of the artist seems to have been to represent, under the
superintendence of the clergy, merely the glorification of the
Saviour. A colossal size was given to the Redeemer, that a fit
idea of His grandeur and majesty might be imparted to the faithful ;
and the subordinate angels, apostles, and prophets were placed in
the order of the heavenly hierarchy in uniform rows above and
without reference to each other.
The bust of the Saviour in S. Paolo is enclosed in a nimbus of vast
diameter and rainbow hue, from which rays of light diverge. A violet
tunic and mantle enclose His vast frame and, with, hands dispropor
tionately small and defective, He gives the blessing and holds on His
shoulder the pastoral staff. A short copious beard parted in the
centre and brushed down over the cheeks, thick hair parted in the
middle and falling in wiry lines behind the back, enclose a face care
worn, aged and grim. The eyebrows are semicircles, the nose straight ;
and a reminiscence of the regular classic forms is preserved, but the
mosaist accuses the degeneracy of the times, and his attempt to ex
press majesty betrays the feebleness of his power. 1 The two angels
that bend reverently at each side of Christ, the prophets and apostles
in double rows of six advancing towards Him with crowns, are
diminutive when compared to Him. The symbols of the Evangelists
high up on the gold ground, a Cross above the Saviour's head and
in the lower course two figures of S. Peter and S. Paul, complete the
ornament of the arch, which in consequence of the fire of 1823 retains
but little of its original colour.
Four fragments of mosaics, representing animals in fine move
ments and in good style, are preserved in a room adjacent to the
sacristy of S. Paolo, and may serve to give a faint idea of the
original ornaments of the external front of the basilica, whilst
three colossal heads of apostles, in the same place in a later style,
may be useful hereafter to illustrate a foreign Greek or Byzantine
element in the art of Italy in the twelfth or thirteenth century.
Had the mosaics of the great aisle been preserved, they would
have been of much interest to the critic as showing how the Saviour's
miracles and the lives of the saints and churchmen were repre-
1 This figure has been very much restored.
EARLY ROMAN MOSAICS 15
sented. Almost a century elapses between the period which
witnessed the adornment of S. Paolo and that which produced the
mosaics of SS. Cosma and Damiano, 1 yet as regards the spirit
in which the apsis and triumphal arch of this church were adorned,
it is evident that little change had taken place in the sentiment,
which dictated pictorial delineation. It was still the aim to glorify
the Redeemer and the saints by representing them in majesty
and dominion and by multiplying angels as heavenly messengers.
Yet withal the classic Roman form still held sway and struggled
for mastery over purely religious art. The four angels, 2 who
stood guard on each side of the Lamb in the triumphal arch of
SS. Cosma e Damiano, were but little different from those of S.
Maria Maggiore. 3 In their short stature, their heads adorned with
tufts of hair held back by cinctures, their free movements and
classic draperies, flying in the wind, they were still reminiscent of
the art local and peculiar to Rome. The artists had not yet
fallen so low as to possess no technical ability, and the masses of
light and shade were still well defined.
The mosaics of the apsis were executed with less force of relief
than those of the triumphal arch, 4
The Saviour in tunic and mantle, and as usual colossal, stood out
against golden-edged clouds in the centre of the space, stretching out
His right arm in token ol command and holding a scroll in His left
hand. A gold nimbus encircled His head and a hand issuing from
above pointed down to Him symbolising the first person of the Trinity,
whom it was still sacrilegious to depict. At the Saviour's feet flowed
the waters of Jordan, and below it the Lamb stood on the source of
1 This church was erected during the time that Felix IV. was Pope of
Rome, between 526 and 530. The period which intervenes between the date
of the mosaics of S. Paolo fuori le Mura and those of SS. Cosma e Damiano,
is marked by the invasion of the Goths and Vandals, by the two successive
sacks of Rome in 455 and 472, by the fall of the Western Empire, and the
desolation of Italy. The completion of SS. Cosma e Damiano took place,
after peace had been restored to Italy, by Theodoric the Great.
2 These angels have blue nimbi.
3 The Lamb stands on an altar with the Cross above him. Three candle
sticks are on one side of him, four on the other. Left and right of these are
two winged angels, four in all nimbed (blue) and standing on clouds. Of
old the symbols of the Evangelists appeared above the angels. One of these,
repainted anew, and symbolising S. John alone, remains on the extreme left.
The triumphal arch seems to have been reduced in size during repairs, for
the prophets on the lower course are cut away, and an arm with a hand and
crown projects singly at each side and indicates the place where these figures
stood. This mosaic is executed on gold ground, and has been restored.
* Or restoring has impaired that quality.
16 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
the four streams of the Gospel, and the twelve sheep, that were the
emblems of the apostolical mission. 1
Although the Saviour still had a spirited attitude and regular
forms, His frame and head had changed to a longer shape, whilst
the neck remained broad and massive, but the brow was muscu-
larly developed, and the eyes, gazing like those of a steer, seemed
fitted to inspire terror. The hair, divided as usual, fell in regular
spirals behind the shoulders and the short beard, equally divided,
left part of the chin bare. It was a type still Roman, but inferior
to those of the earlier mosaists of S. Pudenziana and S. Costanza,
and even to that of the painter of the S. Marcellino catacomb.
As for the draperies, they had lost much of their flexibility.
Attendant on the Saviour and on each side of Him were, left,
S. Peter leading S. Cosma and Pope Felix IV. bearing crowns,
right, S. Paul leading S. Damian and S. Theodore. All these
figures moving sideways, that they might present their full face
to the spectator, have been modernised either in totality or in
part, so that they are no longer subjects for criticism. 2
Two centuries had thus elapsed since the death of Constantine,
and still the arts had continued to exist at Rome, maintaining in
their decline a prominent and unmistakable character. Rome,
however, had long ceased to enjoy the honours of an imperial court,
and in the splendour of her modern basilicas she only disputed
the palm with the humbler but more secure Ravenna. When
Honorius retired from the defenceless palace of Milan to a safer
asylum when Ravenna became the capital of Italy, churches and
edifices were raised to suit the splendour of a court which in pride,
if not in vigour, laid claim to equal rank with that of Byzantium.
A baptistery and many churches of fine architecture were built
in the early part of the fifth century, and the mosaics which adorn
them are the most beautiful in Italy.
When Constantine laid the foundation of the city which bears
his name, he had reason to lament the decline of the arts in the
whole extent of the Empire. Schools of architecture were created
by his orders in various provinces. For the embellishment of his
1 Six on each side of tRe Lamb.
2 This apsis mosaic has been much restored. The figure of S. Felix is
new. Those of S Damian and S. Theodore are modernised, and von
Rumohr had already noticed that these figures wore boots, whilst the Saviour
is in antique dress. (Of. KUMOHB, It. Forschungen, vol. L, p. 172.) The
figure of S. Cosrna is preserved. Of the apostle Peter half the figure only
is preserved. S. Paul is repainted. The best part of the mosaic is the orna
ment in the midst of which the Lamb stands enthroned.
EARLY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA 17
favourite residence the cities of Greece and Asia and perhaps those
of Italy were despoiled of the noblest monuments of art ; and
Constantinople might boast of possessing the finest statues of
Pheidias, Lysippus, and Praxiteles.
Perfect art had had one great epoch the ancient Greek, in
which the highest ideal of the pagans had been attained. What
the Roman republic in the full enjoyment of power and wealth
failed to preserve, it was vain to expect of a Roman Emperor.
Constantine could not revive the splendour of Greece. In the
attempt to arrest the decline, he had not only to struggle with
the flood of rising barbarism, but to deal with a new religious
element, which in its turn was, after the lapse of centuries, to
produce its ideal. The art of Greece was now no longer suitable
to the decline of the Roman empire or to the development of the
Christian faith. The want of a new language was felt, but with
this want and the necessity of satisfying it the fall of the old and
the birth of the new went hand in hand. The efforts of Con
stantine therefore only served to prolong the agony of the classical
antique. Yet this antique in its dying moments maintained its
grandeur and its majesty; and in the mosaics of Ravenna the
interested spectator may watch the last expression of its power.
To affirm that these mosaics are of the same class as those
which were produced at Rome during the fifth century would be
to place on the same level the artists of Santa Maria Maggiore
and those of the Baptistery of Ravenna and the monumental
chapel of the Empress Galla Placidia. It must be conceded that
the latter were far abler than their Roman contemporaries, and
that they were acquainted with models not merely Roman but
Greek. Whether they were Italians or Greeks is of little moment,
but if it be admitted that they were taught in Greece or at Con
stantinople, it will appear that the efforts of Constantine to arrest
the decline of art had not been in vain, and that he had done some
thing to prolong the existence of the pure antique.
The mosaics of the octagonal Baptistery of Ravenna, 1 however
they might be considered, left a pleasing impression on the
spectator. They were admirably distributed within the space
which they were intended to adorn. The mutual subordination
of the figures and the architecture, both real and feigned, which
1 Now S. Giovanni in Fonte, said to have been erected in the fourth
century, but adorned with mosaics in the first half of the fifth century. [The
best authority on the mosaics of Kavenna is KTJBTH, Die Mosaiken von
Ravenna (Leipsig, 1902).]
I. B
18 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
gave to the building its peculiar character, was perfect. The
figures themselves were majestic, bold in movement, varied in
attitude, and individual in character. They were finely designed
and relieved by a broad distribution of light and shade. The orna
ments which served to set off the figures were of their kind beautiful,
and the colour was both harmonious and brilliant. Seen from
below, the forms of the Saviour, the apostles, and the prophets
seemed to have the size of life, and were therefore colossal. Yet
everywhere a sense of repose and a general harmony prevailed.
The cupola was divided into three circles, the smallest of which
was the medallion centre of the vault where the Baptism of the
Saviour was depicted. Separated from this central mosaic by a
wreath of festoons, and from each other by a beautiful ornament
of growing plants, the apostles were represented in classic flying
draperies, in long and steady stride, holding crowns in their hands
and supported on a base formed of feigned pilasters between which
alternate thrones and emblems were placed. 1 Beneath the windows
and in the birth of the arches stood eight prophets in white raiment,
surrounded by elegant foliated ornament. These prophets, the
lights of whose garments were touched in gold, were of fine form
and classically draped, standing boldly, enveloped in their mantles,
holding scrolls or conversing. If anything was to be urged against
the figures of the apostles, it might be that something of form
and proportion had been sacrificed to the necessities of the space
that the heads were small for the frames ; but it was quite as
difficult a task to preserve faultless form in this instance as it had
been in the furnace vault of the catacomb of SS. Marcellino e
Pietro. The long stride and the flying draperies were necessary
to fill the diverging space of the cupola. The prophets were the
finest in character that had yet been produced by the art of the
early centuries. The Saviour was represented in full front in the
centre of the cupola, standing above the knees in Jordan, whose
pellucid wave, unlike that of nature, permitted the limbs to be
seen. His attitude was simple and natural, His form well pro
portioned and finely modelled. His hair, divided and falling on
the shoulders, was long and of copious locks. Above Him was the
Dove of the Holy Ghost. S. John stood on the bank to the left,
one foot raised on a stone, his head erect, and with his right hand
he poured the water from a cup on the Saviour's head. With
1 Amongst these the square head and beard of S. Peter and the long-
shaped head and pointed beard of S. Paul were prominent.
EARLY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA 19
his left he held a jewelled cross. 1 His attitude was fine, his body
a little long for the size of the head in the antique style more
than that of the Saviour. Floating on the water to the right,
looking up to the Saviour and holding a green cloth in both hands,
was Jordan a bearded river-god, holding a reed and resting on
a vase a form well drawn and anatomically rendered, but robust
and Herculean and recalling the old times of Greece. Is it neces
sary again to point out how difficult it was for artists, living on
memories of the pagan past, to conceive such a subject as the
Baptism of Christ in the form most fitted to satisfy religious
aspiration ?
The mosaists of Ravenna, like those of Rome, executed their
work with cubes of a large size, but whilst the latter put them
together roughly, the former used more care. In the Baptistery
of Ravenna the cubes forming outlines were of a warm reddish
tint, decisive enough to mark the shape without hardness. The
lights were of a brilliant yellow red, the half tints a deeper shade
of warm tone, the shadows of a reddish brown. The general
effect was a gorgeous sunny glancing colour. Such were the
earliest mosaics of the new Italian capital. Such they are now
and may long remain if more care be taken of a work so interesting
and so rare. 2
Still more classical, and if possible finer, were those of the
monumental chapel of the Empress Galla Placidia. 3 Nor is it un
interesting to find that it fell to the lot of artists who took their
inspiration from pure Greek models to depict the allegory of the
birth of the Christian faith and ita triumph over the Arian heresy.
The youthful Pastor bidding His flock to " go and teach the
nations " was represented, as is fit, above the inner portal, and
in the choir the triumph was symbolised by the figure of the
Saviour burning the books of the heretics. Christian art had not
as yet been illustrated by so noble a representation of the Good
Shepherd as that which now adorned the monument of Galla
Placidia. Youthful, classic in form and attitude, full of repose,
He sat on a rock in a broken hilly landscape, lighted from a blue
1 We may be indebted to a restorer for this strange addition to the
mosaic of the Baptism.
2 As usual the mosaics of the Baptistery have been restored. In the
central " Baptism " the head and shoulders and right arm of the figure of
the Saviour, the head, shoulders and right arm, the right leg and foot of
the Baptist, and the cross in his left hand have been repaired, and thus the
type and character of the heads may have been altered.
a Now, SS. Nazario e Celso.
20 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
grasping with His left hand the Cross and His right stretching
aslant the frame to caress the lamb at His sandalled feet. His limbs
rested across each other on the green sward. His nimbed head,
covered with curly locks, reposing on a majestic neck and turned
towards the retreating forms of the lambs, was of the finest Greek
type and contour. The face was oval, the eyes spirited, the brow
vast, and the features regular. The frame was beautifully pro
portioned, classical and flexible in the nude. The blue mantle
shot with gold was admirably draped about the form. A warm
sunny colour glanced over the whole figure, which was modelled in
perfect relief by broad masses of golden light, of ashen half tones
and brown-red shadows. No more beautiful figure had been
created during the Christian period of the Roman decline, nor had
the subject of the Good Pastor been better conceived or treated
than here. 1
As in the rise of the faith the symbolic type of the Saviour
must necessarily be youthful, so in its triumph it was natural that
the Redeemer should have the aspect of one mature in years.
In the choir of the monumental chapel of Galla Placidia He was
represented in the fulness of manhood, majestic in attitude,
bearded, with an eye breathing menace, His flying white draperies
expressing energy of movement, His diadem, the cross resting on His
shoulder and the book in His left hand, emblematic of the triumph
of the Gospel and of the Church. Right and left of Him a case
containing the Fathers, and an oven in which the heretical works
were burning, indicated the end of the Redeemer's mission. His
figure was as grand, as fine in conception and execution, as that
of the Good Pastor, nor were the prophets in couples conversing
about the arches of the cupola less worthy of admiration. The
ornaments of the chapel were completed by a cross in the centre
of the dome, by the symbols of the Evangelists on red clouds
relieved on a blue ground spotted with stars, by rich foliated
ornament on a blue ground, enlivened with figures in the thickness
and by the Greek initials of the Saviour in the keys of the arches.
A mysterious and sombre light trickled into the edifice through
four small windows in the dome. 2
1 [Now spoiled by restoration, like the rest of the work in SS. Nazario
e Celso.]
2 Of this period we have an example in the Cappella S. Satiro now in
corporated into the church of S. Ambrogio at Milan. The centre of the cupola
is adorned with a half-length of S. Victor, whose name is inscribed on a book
in his grasp. The hand of the Eternal issues from above the whole in a
medallion on gold ground framed in a green garland. A series of fei<med
Alinari.
MOSAIC FROM THE BAPTISTERY, RAVENNA
Alinari.
MOSAIC FROM THE MAUSOLEUM OF GALLA PLACIDIA, RAVENNA
Alinan.
JUSTINIAN AND HIS SUITE, WITH S. MAXIMIANUS
From the Mosaic in S. Vitale Ravenna.
THEODORA AND HER SUITE
From the Mosaic in S. Vitale, Ravenna.
Alinctri.
EARLY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA 21
If time had spared the numerous edifices with which Ravennjj
was adorned during the feeble reign of Valentinian, if the buildings
remained which the great Theodoric erected and adorned, it might
be possible to trace the decline of art in this portion of the
Peninsula ; but the close of the fifth century and the rise of the
sixth afford no materials to the historian, and with the exception
of the Baptistery of S. Maria in Cosmedin there is no trace of
the continuation of that classic art which so justly claims our
admiration.
Santa Maria in Cosmedin was, under the barbaric rule, a
baptistery of the Arians, but is supposed to have been adorned
with mosaics after the expulsion of the Goths. The cupola of the
octagon is divided into circles like that of the earlier baptistery.
The same subjects adorn the basin of the dome and the circle
immediately beneath it. 1
Jordan, instead of floating on the water, sits on the bank to
the left partly draped in green, resting his right arm on a vase,
holding a reed hi his right hand, and looking on. 2
The capture of Ravenna by Belisarius introduced Greek art
anew into that capital, and the exarchs under the orders of Justinian
and his successors either embellished the city with new monu
ments or old churches with new mosaics. But the art of which
S. Vitale was an example proved how surely the mosaists of the
Eastern Empire had declined in the application of the great
maxims of plastic and pictorial delineation. In knowledge of
form, in type, in distribution they were inferior to their prede
cessors ; and, as if conscious of this inferiority, they sought to
niches in the sides is filled with medallions containing heads, the symbols of
the four Evangelists now absent, and figures of SS. Ambrose, Protasius, Felix,
Maternus, and another. The style is that of the close of the fifth century ;
the mosaic is much injured and repaired.
1 The apostles, Peter with the keys and Paul with a scroll, stand on each
side of a cushioned throne, above which is the Cross. The keys and other
emblems in this mosaic are very suspicious. But the restorer has been very
busy here, and the time in which the body of the work was executed may
be judged only from the distribution and the forms. The mosaic is certainly
of much earlier date than San Vitale commenced in 541. The rest of the
apostles, in white draperies of antique style, though of somewhat angular
and broken folds, move towards the throne, separated from each other no
longer by beautiful foliated ornament, but by the less graceful palm. In
the Baptism the Saviour, youthful and beardless, still distantly recalls the
classic type and form. A nimbus surrounds His head, and the dove sheds
green rays upon His features. S. John, on the right, finely shaped, with
long hair and beard, holds a reed in his left hand, and places his right on
the Saviour's head.
2 His head is strangely adorned with the claws of a lobster. Not an
uncommon symbol.
22 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
restore the balance by more minute and careful execution, or by
the use of the most gorgeous materials. This period of the de
cline may truly be called Byzantine. Its stamp was impressed
on the mosaics of Ravenna during the exarchate, on some mosaics
of Rome in the seventh century, and casually on paintings and
mosaics in various parts of Italy at a still later period. San Vitale,
begun by Theodoric, was completed by order of Justinian and
consecrated by Maximian, Archbishop of Ravenna in 547. 1 The
patron Saint of the basilica, S. Vitalis, was to receive the crown
of the martyrs in the apsis, Justinian and Theodora their glori
fication in the sanctuary, whilst in the solia or quadrangle at the
centre of the edifice scenes of the Old, prefigurating those inci
dents in the New Testament which artists had not as yet ventured
to depict, were represented. In the glorification of the Saviour
as the distributor of all divine favours, the artists did not abandon
the measure of nature so far as to exaggerate the proportions of
the Redeemer, they did not even attempt to render the idea of
His eternal power by aged features. On the contrary, they con
sidered it more natural to convey the idea that His youth was
eternal. The Saviour was therefore represented in the apsis of
San Vitale with the round smooth face of an adolescent. The
universality of His rule was indicated by His seat on the blue
sphere of the world and by the imperial purple of His robes ; and
an effort was made to impress the spectator with the awfulness
of His power by the gaze of two very large, round eyes. The
forms of the features, however, betrayed the decline of art. The
nose was bent, the mouth small; copious but short hair covered
the head, which was surrounded by a cruciform nimbus adorned
with jewels. In the left hand was the book with the seven seals.
A crown was extended in the right to the bending form of S. Vitalis,
who, as if unworthy of touching it, held out his arms covered
with the drapery of his mantle. An angel in white with a golden
nimbus, holding a staff, seemed to protect the martyr by laying
a hand on his shoulder. A similar figure on the right indicated
S. Ecclesius holding in his hand a model of a church. Red and
blue clouds fleeted over the golden ground above the group and
an ornament of cornucopias served as a frame to the picture. The
Saviour's feet rested on a rocky green sward, beneath which flowed
* Agnellus, Part II., pp. 38, 39, in MTTRA.TOBI, R.I.S., and J. DE EITBEIS,
fast. Ravennx, Lib. III., p, 541. [S. Vitale was built by S. Ecclesius, Arch
bishop of Ravenna, and was consecrated by his successor S. Maximian Seo
infra same page.]
EARLY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA 23
the four rivers. On the arch above Him the Greek monogram
was inscribed. The rest of the mosaics may be described as
follows :
The glorification of Justinian and Theodora was depicted in two
mosaics on the sides of the sanctuary, the golden halo that surrounded
their heads still betraying the habit of the Romans to pay divine
honours to the sovereign, Justinian, in the imperial purple and
diadem, held a basin of gold ; on his left stood Maximian, Archbishop
of Ravenna, bareheaded, in robes, and carrying a short cross. Be
tween them, but a step in the rear, waited a bareheaded dignitary,
admirably portrayed with straggling locks hanging over his forehead,
and two priests with incense and censer stood attendant on the arch
bishop. On Justinian's right three courtiers and a body-guard with
round shields completed the group. 1 On the opposite side of the
sanctuary the Empress Theodora, also in imperial purple and jewelled
diadem, held a gold basin, and was followed by a suite of seven persons
in variegated costume. Two courtiers seemed to await her commands,
and one of them had drawn back the curtain of the door through which
she was to enter. 2 Nothing could be more remarkable than the
portraits in these mosaics. The artists, freed from the necessity of
following classical models, concentrated their efforts on the likenesses
of the chief persons, Justinian's thin nose, heavy cheeks, and ill-
humoured mouth, his angular brows and broad forehead covered with
stray hairs, seemed but too truthful an imitation of nature. Theodora,
with her broad face, long nose, thin lips, and arched eyes and brow,
her slender neck and form, Maximian' s long head and cunning eye
were equally characteristic, yet strangely in contrast with the con
ventional immobility produced by the stiffness of the frames, the
limbs, and the small pointed feet. The figures seemed indeed to hang
in rows and overlap each other. They were precisely drawn and
conscientiously depicted; the masses of light and shade were fairly
indicated and the colours well and harmoniously distributed ; the
profuse ornaments gave a certain glance to the picture, but amidst
the glitter it was impossible not to perceive the decline of art and the
conventionalism to which it was hurrying.
The solia, or quadrangle, forming the centre of the nave and
transept, was ornamented on four sides with mosaics. On the face
of the arch leading into the sanctuary, in full flight and exaggerated
action, contrasting greatly with the calm heavenly messengers of
Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, two angels held between them a
medallion enclosing the symbol of the Cross ; and at their feet
Jerusalem and Bethlehem sparkled with gems. An ornament of vine
1 The four figures of the body-guard, more rude in execution than the
principal ones, carry round shields with the monogram of the Saviour upon
them.
2 A fountain stands in the opening.
24 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
tendrils issuing from vases and animated by birds filled the upper
part of the space. An arch of the same dimensions divided the solia
from the nave, and in the archivault the Saviour, of the usual type
and form, wearing a stole over His purple tunic, was represented in
a medallion, with twelve apostles in similar frames below Him ; and
last, the SS. Protasius and Gervasius. The screens of the solia under
whose arches the spectator might wander into the transepts were
adorned with the prefigurative episodes of the Old Testament. In
the recess above the lower course of arches to the right, Abel in the
antique shepherd costume a skin and red cloak ofiered up the
firstling lamb, at a table upon which the wine stood in a vase, whilst
Melchizedek, nimbed, seemed to have issued from a temple behind him
and to call the blessing upon the bread which he raised aloft. The
presence of the Eternal was indicated by the hand appearing in a cloud.
The form of Abel, well proportioned in the nude, was roughly but
simply lined, and his head not remarkable for beauty. The move
ment of Melchizedek was energetic and not ill rendered. A landscape
and a sky with red clouds completed the picture. On the face of the
arch Moses, as a shepherd petting a lamb, and again untying his
sandals at the bidding of the Lord, whose hand appeared above him,
Isaiah prophesying, filled the spaces ; and these episodes were crowned
by two angels in flight, holding between them the medallion of
the Cross. Above the arches of the gallery on the same side the
Evangelists Mark and John were depicted, and the rest of the wall
was filled with an ornament of vases and doves. In the screen to
the left, and similarly distributed, Abraham was seen carrying food
to the three angels, whilst Sarah, in the form of an antique matron,
stood laughing at the door. Again the sacrifice of Isaac was arrested
by the hand of the Lord. On the wall above, Jeremiah stood pro
phesying, and Moses received the law whilst the people of Israel waited
beneath. Two angels as usual soared aloft, and held between them
the medallion of the Cross. In the uppermost spaces sat the
Evangelists Luke and Matthew with their symbols. The cupola was
divided by diagonals forming four triangular segments, perpendicular
to whose base rose an ornament terminating in an enormous blossom
which served as resting-point to four angels, each of whom supported
on his extended arms the central medallion enclosing the Lamb.
Thus, in the course of a few years, the spirit of the antique
which lingered in the earliest artists of Ravenna had almost passed
away. A reminiscence of old classic forms might still be noticed,
but by its side naturalism had arisen a naturalism which con
fined itself entirely to expression, and which seemed to assist in
"killing form, movement, and relief. If, for example, the Good
Shepherd in the Chapel of GaQa Placidia was remarkable for perfect
rotundity and well-fused masses of light and shade, for softness
EARLY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA 25
of outline and harmony of colour, the figures in S. Vitale were
but too generally feeble in relief, abrupt in the passage from light
to shade, and confined by distinct outlines. It was possible to
distinguish the high lights by the side of reddish half tints and
greenish-grey shadows. Yet in the distribution and choice of
ornament, in the harmony of the general colour, whose brilliancy
was incontestable, the artists of S. Vitale were still great and
worthy of admiration. 1
Were S. Vitale a solitary example of the art of its time, it
might be considered unsafe to pronounce a decisive opinion as to
the general degeneracy which prevailed, but, in addition to the
mosaics of S. Michele in Affricisco, 2 the remains of which have
been transferred to the Museum of Berlin, Ravenna possessed
other monuments contemporary with S. Vitale ; and in the chapel
of the archiepiscopal palace, completed in 547, the mosaics were
of a style similar in every respect to the first that had been com
pleted under the exarchate. Nor was this chapel less remarkable
for the close imitation of the types, forms, and workmanship of
S. Vitale than for the fact that in the figure which adorned the
wall above the altar the spectator might discover one of the first
examples of the glorification of the Virgin. 3
On the right-hand wall near the altar stood the Saviour, juvenile
and beardless, with long hair cut straight across His forehead, and
features exactly resembling those of the Redeemer in the apsis of
S. Vitale. On His right shoulder He carried the Cross and in His
left an open book, on which these words are written : " Ego sum via
veritas." His dress was that of a warrior, His attitude a distant
imitation of the splendid one in the choir of the Chapel of Galla
Placidia. 4 Here indeed the contrast between the mosaists of the fifth
and sixth, centuries at Ravenna might be watched, and it was possible
to mark the decline from classic form, bold movement, and splendid
1 It must indeed be borne in mind that these mosaics, like most of those
in Italy, have been altered by restoration at different periods ; and one may
distinguish the parts which have lost their original form or freshness. The
dress and nimbus of the Saviour in the apsis, for instance, have been restored.
The head of S. Maximian in the sanctuary is partly new. The heads of the
apostles in the medallions of the archivault (entrance to the nave), are much
damaged by repair. The Evangelists in the quadrangle, or solia, are almost
ruined by the changes they have undergone. The mosaics of Justinian
and Theodora are excessively rich in gilt ornament and jewellery, the ground
gold, in most parts. The ornaments on the arch leading into the sanctuary
are on blue ground. The ornaments of the ceiling of the cupola are on gold.
The cubes at Ravenna are still large and cemented at the base only.
2 S. Michele in Affricisco was consecrated in 545.
3 [The Madonna here is much more recent. Of, BTOCKHARDT, Cicerone.]
4 The lower half of the figure is restored.
26 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
drapery to conventionalism and immobility. The vaults of two
arches which spanned the waggon roof of the Chapel were adorned
with medallion busts of the Saviour in the centre and three similar
busts of apostles at each side. Both heads of the Saviour (one near
the door is now restored vertically to the extent of half of the figure)
were of the same type and form as that of the apsis of 8. Vitale. Of
the busts representing male and female saints on a blue ground on the
archivaults and sides of the two windows the greater part are now
repaired and repainted. 1 The symbols of the Evangelists in the
ceiling near the door have so far shared the same fate that one of
them, that of S. John with a human head, is entirely new and coloured,
whilst the angels in the diagonals who support the central medallion
containing the monogram of Christ have all more or less undergone
restoration also.
The miserable state to which the mosaics of S. Apollinare in
Classe near Ravenna have been reduced seems calculated to puzzle
and deceive the spectator. 2 Yet in the midst of the ruins the
Byzantine art peculiar to the first monument of the exarchate
may still be traced. In some heads and figures the reminiscence
of the old style is preserved, and a certain breadth of treatment
may be conceded, whilst in one composition at least, that of Abel
offering the firstling lamb before Melchizedek, the conception recalls
a similar scene in S. Vitale.
S. Apollinare in Classe was built by the treasurer Julian in 534 8
and consecrated by Maximian, Archbishop of Ravenna, in 549. The
basilica was dedicated to S. Apollinare, and the figure of that saint
occupied a splendid place in the tribune, but the seat of honour was
still reserved for the representation of the Saviour, whose head was
depicted in the curve of the apsis in the centre of a cross enclosed
in a blue nimbus containing the Greek name of the Redeemer, the
alpha and omega and the words " Salus Mundi." This head of the
Saviour was of fine outline. The divided hair, which fell nobly down
on the shoulders, and a long beard, enclosed a face of regular features.
The hand of the Lord pointed downwards from the key of the arch,
and seemed to issue from a red circle studded with precious stones.
1 These saints are, in one window, SS. Sebastian, Fabian, Damian,
Cassian, Chrysogonus-, and Chrysanthus, in the other SS. Eufemia, Eugenia,
Cecilia, Duria, Perpetua, and Felicita. In the key of the arch of each window
is the monogram of Christ.
* A close inspection of the various figures and episodes which fill the
apsis, the tribune, and the arch of the tribune reveals not merely restora
tion on a large scale, but repairs executed with materials unknown to the
mosaist. A large part of the left side of the apsis is repainted on stucco ;
and the same may be said of most of the figures and inscriptions in the
tribune and arch.
3 [Begun after 534. /. BURCKHARDT, op. cit.]
EARLY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA 27
On each side of the cross Moses and Elias hovered in a golden heaven
studded with clouds. S. Apollinare, nimbed and with outstretched
arms, presented himself colossal in the space between the curve of
the apsis and the windows of the tribune, and looked up reverently
to heaven. At his sides the space was divided into three courses,
the first containing a Christian flock of twelve sheep, the second rocks
and trees, the third three sheep symbolising apostles, separated from
each other by trees. Between the four windows of the apsis stood
the figures of the four bishops Ursinus, Ursus, Severus, and Ecclesius,
the head of the latter being amongst the best preserved in the whole
basilica all of them standing under niches with a little dais over the
heads. To the right of the windows, the sacrifices of Abel, Melchizedek,
and Abraham were represented in one picture. 1 Melchizedek was sitting
gravely behind the table, whilst Abraham presented Isaac, and Abel
the firstling lamb in the presence of the Lord, whose hand, as usual,
appeared above the scene. The figure of Abel, now ruined by restora
tion, was similar in movement to that in 8. Vitale.
To the left of the window, the tender of its privileges to the church
of Ravenna was depicted. 2 An archbishop to whom the name of
Maximian has been given stood in the centre of the mosaic, whilst
in front of him one, in purple and white, handed a scroll bearing the
word <privilegia to another in ecclesiastical robes. To the right of
the latter were three priests bearing fire, incense, and a censer. To
the left of the former, three figures in yellow drapery, all of them
in stiff and motionless attitudes, and overlapping each other as in
the glorification of Justinian at S. Vitale. This scene is now supposed
to represent S. Maximian, in presence of Constantine. The archbishop
and the four figures to his right have nimbi painted on stucco. A
modern painted inscription declares that Constantine, Heraclius, and
Tiberius " imperatores " are present at the ceremony, and many are
the conjectures to which these inscriptions have given rise. The
portrait of Maximian is not in the least like that in S. Vitale, and
none of the imperial persons wear the diadem. Any attempt to draw
an inference from this restored work must be abandoned.
On the arch of the tribune, a medallion bust of the Saviour
was placed. The Redeemer in His purple robes was presented
as in the act of benediction and holding a book in His left hand.
His long hair and beard were usual, but the features were no longer
the calm and regular ones of the Saviour in the cross of the apsis.
Muscular developments in the forehead, a brow knit by terrible
thoughts, gazing eyes, a nose bent at the end, proclaimed the
progress of that more modern ide# which sought to increase the
1 [Of. RICHTEB and TAYLOR, The Golden Age of Classic Christian Art
(Duckworth), 1904, p. 62.]
2 [Much later work executed between 671 and 679.]
28 HISTOKY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
majesty of the head by adding the terrible, as the Eomans had
already done in mosaic and painting.
Lower down in the courses, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the
twelve apostles in the form of sheep, two palms, the archangels
Michael and Gabriel, S, Matthew and S. Luke were represented. 1
The great nave of S. Apollinare in Classe either was never
adorned with mosaics, or these have long since disappeared to
make room for a series of portraits of dignitaries of the Church of
Ravenna.
In the church of S. Apollinare Nuovo, on the contrary, the
mosaics of the nave are preserved whilst those of the apsis and
triumphal arch have disappeared. This basilica, originally built
in the time of Theodoric and consecrated anew by the orthodox
clergy of the exarchate, appears to have received its final adorn
ments in the reign of Justinian and under the auspices of Agnellus,
Archbishop of Eavenna. Mosaic portraits of both those digni
taries were placed on the wall above the portal, and though one
of these has disappeared, that of Justinian still remains and is
now covered by the organ. 2 It would be difficult to note any very
marked difference between the mosaics that cover the three courses
of the nave and those of other basilicas of Ravenna in the sixth
1 It behoves those who reject a received opinion to state most accurately
the reasons that induce them to express one directly contrary. It may
therefore be necessary to describe in detail the changes that repairs have
produced in mosaics which, according to one of the most recent art-historians,
' are old and genuine.'* Taking first the mosaics of the apsis: The white
tunic of the figure of Moses is repainted. Half the face from the nose down
wards and both the hands of Ettas are restored. The head of S. Apollinare
is in part damaged, the left hand and lower part of the figure destroyed.
The sheep on the sides of S. Apollinare, but particularly those on the right
of that figure, are almost completely modern. A large part of the left side
of the apsis is repainted. Of the four bishops between the windows of the
tribune the head of Ecclesius is preserved, the lower part repainted. The
head of S. Ursinus is a new mosaic, and the lower half of the figure is re
stored. In the mosaic of the sacrifice half the head from the eyes upwards
and part of the arms of Abel are repainted. The legs have become dropsical
under repair. The figures of Abraham and Isaac are almost completely
repainted, and the hands and feet are formless for that reason. This mosaic
is repaired in two different ways with white cubes coloured over and with
painted stucco. In the mosaic representing the tender of the privileges,
the nimbi as already stated are new, but besides, the lower part of all the
figures is repainted on stucco, and the heads are all more or less repaired.
Of the figures on the arch, that of the archangel Gabriel is half ruined and
half restored, and part of S. Matthew and S. Luke are new. All these repairs
are of various periods, the latest that of Battista Bicci, completed, as is
vouched by an inscription behind the organ, on the 10th of May 1816. Nor
is it strange that repairs should be constantly necessary in a church the
floors of which are green with damp and the crypt of which is constantly
full of water.
2 [Removed to the Cappella dei Tutti Santi.]
AHnari
CHRIST BETWEEN FOUR ANGELS
From the Mosaic in S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.
AHnari,
THE PROCESSION OF VIRGINS
From the Mosaic in S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.
EAELY MOSAICS AT RAVENNA 29
century. The niosaists were still remarkable for judicious dis
tribution of space, yet in reference to each other the figures had
hardly a bond of union ; being placed in rows without relation to
their neighbours or to the general composition. But S* Apollinare
Nuovo was remarkable in one sense, inasmuch as, in the numerous
episodes of the life of the Saviour which filled the upper spaces
of the nave, a nearer approach was made to those scenes of the
Redeemer's life which are known as scenes of His Passion. As
yet, however, the final and melancholy episode of the Crucifixion
had not been touched, and the scruples which restrained the clergy
from representing that subject and others immediately connected
with it were not removed till a later period.
The right side of the nave was devoted to the glorification of the
Redeemer by the martyrs and prophets, and to incidents immediately
preceding His death. Above the first series of arches twenty-six
martyrs, bearing crowns, seem to have issued from the palace of
Ravenna (Palatium) and are formed in a single front line extending
to the side of the Saviour, who sits enthroned between four angels.
A palm separates the martyrs from each other. MS. records in
S. Apollinare Nuovo state that as late as 1580 this procession, if it de
serves that name, was headed by S. Stephen, who, with his right arm
extended, seemed to introduce to the Saviour S. Martin, who led the
band of holy men. It is startling to find that, as the mosaic now
stands, the figure of S. Stephen is gone and the space which he occu
pied has been filled up by the total renewal of one of the angels at
the Saviour's side on a scale stouter, and in a space broader, than the
original. The same records affirm that the Saviour sat enthroned
between four angels and held in His left hand a book on which the words
" Ego sum rex glorise " were written. It would be vain now to look
for the book in the Saviour's hand. 1 It will be seen, on the contrary,
that, as the figure stands at present, a sceptre is placed in the hand
1 The restoration of the figure of the Saviour and the alteration of the
distribution of the space are evident at first sight, and led naturally to the
inquiry whether it had always been so. Then it was that by the kindness
of the prior it became possible to consult a memorandum MS. in folio, pre
served in the records of the church and written in 1580 by Father Giovanni
Francesco Malazappi da Carpi, where, at folio 45, the description of the
mosaics is given, as narrated in the text. The absence of one saint in the
procession of martyrs is evident from a comparison with that of the females
on the other side. Twenty-four of these, with the three Magi, complete the
number of twenty-seven. The spaces are similarly divided on both sides.
Hence it was obvious that one saint on the right side had disappeared, since
without him the number would be reduced to twenty-six. But, besides, the
memorandum above quoted mentions each saint by name, the first nearest,
the Saviour being S. Stephen, the second S. Martin, and so on with the rest.
The names of the saints are still inscribed, and S. Martin is now nearest the
Saviour.
30 H1STOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
which of old held the book. The movement of the arm is changed,
and thus not only is the figure altered, but a new attribute is intro
duced, according to the fancy of a restorer who seems to have repaired
one entire vertical half of the form. Judging from that portion of
the Redeemer which remains, the spectator might admit that He was
majestic in character, that His attitude was commanding and noble.
His purple tunic and mantle of different shades nobly draped the
body and limbs. The head, framed by rich locks of hair and a divided
beard, was of a fine outline. The features were regular though some
what aged, the forehead and brow open, the eyes fairly expressive
though a little gazing. The nose, on the other hand, a little bent at
the end, betrayed the Byzantine decline. The type and the figure
were indeed one of the finest which the sixth century had produced,
and though slightly different in movement, might rival those of the
catacomb of SS. MarceUino e Pietro at Rome. The angels at the
sides were with one exception of the long slender Byzantine type.
The second course of mosaics above the procession of martyrs com
prised a series of sixteen prophets in niches between eleven arched
windows, some of which, being walled up, were filled with ornament,
whilst on the ground above the niches, peacocks, partridges, and other
birds were depicted.
The third course, of smaller dimensions than the rest and cut down
by a new roof lower than the old one, erected by Cardinal Gaetani,
represented thirteen scenes of the life of the Saviour, alternating with
a niche adorned with a cross and a crown and a dove. The first of
these scenes was the Last Supper, in which the guests lay recumbent
on seats round a table in form of a horse-shoe ; the second the Kiss
of Judas, the last but one the Procession to Calvary the Saviour's
cross being borne by Simon of Cyrene the last, the Saviour in the
midst of the Apostles. In all these compositions the Redeemer
appeared as a man of full age and bearded, as suited the idea of Him
who in the prime of manhood suffered for the sins of the world.
A procession of female martyrs similar in movement and arrange
ment to that which advanced to honour the Saviour, moved on the
opposite side of the nave to adore the Virgin. It appeared to have
started from the port of Ravenna, whose waters, ships, and edifices
bore the name " Civi Classe." The Virgin sat enthroned opposite the
Saviour, between four angels, and received the adoration of the Magi.
A nimbus of gold encircled her head, which was covered with the folds
of her mantle. Her form was of that developed Byzantine which
already marked the decline of art. The infant Saviour, seated in the
centre of her lap and in full front, gave the blessing, whilst the three
Magi advanced in bending attitude in single file to her right. On
their heads were crowns, since exchanged for baronial caps, as may be
seen by the grotesque novelty of this part of their costume. 1 The
r>i PARMA, in Memorie storiche de* conventi e chiese dei Frati
minor i della Provincia di Bologna (Parma, 1760), describes these mosaics,
EARLY MOSAICS AT EAVENNA 31
angels guarding the Virgin were doubtless like those by the side of
the Saviour ; but, with the exception of one, they have lost all
antique character under the hands of the restorer. The upper courses
were filled with sixteen prophets and thirteen scenes representing the
miracles of the Saviour, who was no longer depicted in the fulness of
age, but, on the contrary, in the bloom of youth, beardless, and wearing
the purple ; doubtless under the impression that, to show the power
of the Redeemer in this phase of His existence, it is also necessary
to declare, by such means as the poverty of art possesses, His innocence
and freedom from guile. Amongst the miracles represented were
the Cure of the Sick Man who takes up his bed and walks, the Casting
out of a Devil, Peter and Andrew called from their Nets, and the
distribution of the Loaves and Fishes. These subjects, like those on
the opposite side of the nave, were more reminiscent of the antique
than the rest of the mosaics. Yet one may hesitate to give a resolute
opinion on these works as a whole, when one considers that the
figures of the first course have for the greater part lost originality, and
that those of the upper courses though less damaged have also under
gone changes.
The portrait of Justinian in the organ loft x is destroyed with
the exception of the head and bust. The former, covered with a
diadem and adorned with a couple of jewels pendent like cherries
from the ears, is older, fatter, and squarer than that of S, Vitale,
but similar in features. Were it not presumptuous to speak of
the general colour of mosaics which have suffered so severely as
these from restoring, it might be said that the tones, particularly
in the upper courses, are chosen with the knowledge of harmony
and the feeling for massive light and shade which characterised
the mosaists of S, Maria Maggiore at Rome. 2 With the close of
the sixth century Ravenna's importance came to an end. Art
no doubt maintained itself there, as in most Italian cities, at that
modest standard which might satisfy humble wants, but could
leave no monument to posterity. Plastic art might be traced to a
later period ; it yielded to that of mosaics in the earlier centuries,
and alludes to the crowns then covering the heads of the Magi (p. 290). In
the time of Ciampini (p. 176) the Magi still had crowns, as may be seen m
the engraving of that author: but these heads and crowns, as Flamimo
states, were even in Ciampini's time painted restorations. (FLAMINIO, tifo
sup., p. 292.) The heads with baronial caps are now restored in mosaic, a
proof of the numerous successive changes which these works have undergone.
The mosaics were in the hands of restorers as late as 1861.
* [Now in the Cappella del Tutti SantL] .
2 Between the sixth and seventh centuries may be classed the mosaics ot
the side chapel in the church of S. Lorenzo of Milan representing Christ
amongst the apostles in niches, and the Sacrifice of Isaac, much damaged
by restoring.
32 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
but still left traces of its existence in urns and sarcophagi, re
specting which let the reader take these few notes.
" Amongst the funeral monuments at S. Apollinare in Classe, one
containing the ashes of an archbishop is remarkable for a bas-relief
on its front representing the Saviour with the books, enthroned and
receiving a scroll from S. Paul, whilst S. Peter, on the other side,
advances with the cross and keys. The youthful and beardless Christ
and the forms of the apostles and attendant figures reveal an artist
of the sixth century. 1 An Adoration of the Magi on the tomb of the
exarch Isaac affords a striking proof of the tenacity with which old
forms were preserved by sculptors. 2 The Virgin without a nimbus
holds the nimbed Saviour on her knee, 3 and the Magi advance in a
row, clothed in the Phrygian dress and cap. Daniel, also with a
Phrygian cap, stands between two lions. Lazarus rises from the grave
before a figure of Christ without a nimbus. The forms, attitudes,
and arrangement are those of the early catacomb paintings at Eome.
Amongst the monuments in the cathedral of Ravenna are two urns
in the chapel of the Madonna del Sudore, one of which, according
to a late inscription, encloses the remains of S. Barbatian, confessor
of Galla Placidia, the second contains the remains of S. Rainardo.
The latter is adorned with a bas-relief representing the Saviour
nimbed, holding the book, and seated on a throne resting on a rock
out of which the four rivers flow. 4 Long hair falls behind His
shoulders, but a beardless face indicates the intention of youth. With
one hand outstretched He accepts a crown from S. Paul, whilst S.
Peter bearing a cross strides towards Him with a similar emblem,
The apostles are easily distinguishable by their well-known types, but,
like the Saviour, they are rudely represented. The same subjects and
the same types may be found on the tomb of S. Barbatian as on that
of S. Rainardo. 5 The Saviour and the apostles, however, stand in
separate niches parted by columns ; and the sculpture is still more
rude than the last. The bas-reliefs of other tombs on a wall in the
passage to the sacristy of' S. Vitale represent Christ giving a scroll
to S. Paul, S. Peter on His right, and a male and female figure right
ancl left of the apostles and parted from them by a palm ; Christ again,
with a damaged head 6 and an arm wanting, standing at the top of a
flight of steps with a small figure of Lazarus in a winding-sheet near
1 The Saviour's head is encircled by a nimbus with rays, like those in
the apsis of SS. Cosma e Damiano at Rome.
a The exarch Isaac died at Ravenna in 1044, but the sarcophagus may
be of an older date.
3 The nimbus round the infant Saviour's head is radiated with the
oblique Greek cross, and contains the alpha and omega.
* The Saviour's nimbus is Greek like the last. The cross and monogram
are on the ends of the tomb.
5 The same symbols likewise.
6 And a Greek nimbus.
EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTURE 33
Him. All these bas-reliefs exhibit more or less the decline of antique
art, and the defects peculiar to it. Of two the dates are fairly ascer
tained, the rest may have been produced at intervals as late as the
close of the seventh century, when the exarchate disappeared. The
pastoral chair of S. Maximian, 1 filled with ivory reliefs, is likewise of
the antique school of the sixth century; and it might be possible
to recognise the same style in the great silver crucifix of the cathedral,
had it not been unfortunately restored in the sixteenth and eighteenth
centuries.
The miniaturists of the first ages yielded examples of little
more importance than those produced by statuaries, but still
interesting as showing the predominance of antique types or
peculiar technical modes of execution.
One may note in a parchment of the Vatican, 2 representing scenes
from the life of Joshua, character very similar to that of the reliefs
on the column of Trajan. The compositions recall early Christian
art at Rome. Well-connected scenes, groups, marshalled according
to true maxims, follow each other in quick succession. Joshua may
be constantly recognised not merely by his nimbus but by his tall
stature, by his face and warrior's dress a rapid and sketchy exe
cution in thin water-colour of light rosy tones, freely carried out with
the brush in the Pompeian style ; all this, though combined with
some defects of anatomy and coarseness of extremities, reveals an
artist of the earlier times. Yet an inscription on the parchment
would lead the student to consider these miniatures as a work of the
ninth century. If this were so, it must be conceded that the painter
not only imitated the antique in form and composition but also in
technical execution.
Vignette miniatures of still more classical forms, interspersed
among the leaves of an old MS. of Virgil 3 at the Vatican, are interest
ing in another sense. Their technical execution may be accurately
described by a careful analysis of parts bared by the dropping of
the upper surface. In landscape scenes, for instance, the whole
surface appears to have been covered with an uniform blue tone,
upon which antique groups and the short square Roman figures were
drawn. The colour of the flesh tints and vestments was then laid
on in body colour, the shadows strongly marked with a deep brown
1 In the cathedral.
2 Parchment, 30 feet long, in the Library of the Vatican. See AGIN-
COTTBT, v., plates 28, 29, 30,. for engravings of some of these miniatures. The
compositions are generally good and animated, and some attitudes are quite
artistic. Defects of anatomy in the extremities may be frequently noticed.
The technical execution is that of a water-colour of light transparent tones.
The drawing, which may be seen where parts of the miniature have been
rubbed down, is executed with a brush, ^ not with point, and the system is
not that which can be found in later miniatures.
3 Rome, Library of the Vatican, MSS. NT. 3225.
I.
34 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
tint and the lights of draperies with, gold. 1 The execution is probably
due to an inferior artist of the fifth century, spirited in rendering
incident but feeble in knowledge of form, as the coarse figures and large
round eyes fully prove, yet imitating in the most faithful manner
the classic forms of antiquity. One may indeed point to a Laocoon,
which is but too evidently an inspiration from the celebrated marble
of that group. Another work of this time or of the close of the fourth
century is the Homer, now in the Ambrosiana at Milan, quite in the
character of the Eoman art of the period under notice, the classical
movement for instance of a figure of Homer, its warm and transparent
colour combining to make it one beautiful of its kind, 2
1 The colour is laid on with great impasto, of a general red tone in the
flesh tints. The lights of the draperies are touched in gold. The forms,
though imitated from the antique, are not without defects, and the eyes
particularly are large, round and staring.
2 Of course allusion is made only to those parts which are not damaged
or retouched.
[07- WICKOFF, Roman Art (E. T., by Mrs. Arthur Strong: London,
Heinemann, 1900), pp. 188-9. The Iliad in Milan "shows the predominance
of the continuous principle in all the manuscripts of the classics. Here
Achilles is represented first in the assembly, and then, within the same frame,
going down with Patroclus to the ships. ..." See also on this point Mrs.
ABTHTJB STBONG, Eoman Sculpture (Duckworth, 1905), and for the MSS.,
VENTUBI, op. cit., vol. i., pp. 304 ct eeq*, and for illustrations, plates 137
et seq.]
CHAPTER II
ITALIAN ART FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE
THIRTEENTH CENTURY
THE annals of Roman art immediately after the conquest of Italy
by Belisarius and Narses, impose on the historian a tedious task.
Yet at the risk of wearying the reader he is bound to dwell upon
the formless productions of centuries, remarkable for a general
decay, but in which the threads which unite the art of succeeding
periods and the germs of future development may be traced. In
Rome itself painting and mosaic continued to live upon traditional
forms, and received from the Neo-Greek artists of Ravenna but
a passing influence. Christian forms of composition, grafted at
first and in a few rare examples on the imitation of the antique,
gradually became typical. Types were altered without being im
proved, and form became daily more defective. After three
centuries of continuous decline, the technical process of painting
began to change. A new Greek or Byzantine art then appeared
in the South of Italy, displaying rudeness and defects equal to
those of Rome. Sicily shone for an instant with unwonted
brilliancy and displayed in a fine series of mosaics powers of a
high class. This momentary revival was succeeded by a new
period of darkness, during which Rome again seized the lead 1
and kept it till Tuscany took it up and distanced all rivals.
1 \E q in the frescoes discovered lately in S. Maria Antiqua in the Forum.
There we see how an ordinary Boman church was decorated in the eighth
century on the eve of the emancipation from Byzantine dominion. There
are three layers of frescoes, the latest being that painted m the toe of
John VII (741-767). The church was crushed by the fall of the buildings
which overhung it on the north-west edge of the Palatine, probably in the
earthquake of 847. The outer hall, however, seems to have been in use
till a much later period, judging by the fragments of pamtogs it contams
The final destruction of this building probably took place in 1084. In the
time when Pope John decorated the church, as HI the tune of its foundation,
Borne was full of Greeks a regular Byzantine army of occupation. We see
here Greek inscriptions, costumes, and saints; the wall painting shows us
art transplanted to the West and acquiring something of Roman
8. Maria Antiqua in Papers of the British School at Borne (Macmillan, 1902),
vol. i. pp. 1-120.]
36 HISTOKY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
To follow the decline of painting at Rome, the catacombs
again afford the most instructive examples.
The first subject which strikes the visitor to S. Ponziano as
a production of the seventh or eighth century is a Baptism of the
Saviour, roughly sketched and painted in the old technical style,
but essentially different in conception from those which have been
noticed at Ravenna. The artist represented the Redeemer naked
up to His middle in clear water, with a nimbed head of regular
features enclosed by long falling hair and a small beard. S. John,
standing on a bank to the right and holding a reed, imposed a
hand on the Saviour's head, as in the Baptistery of S. Maria in
Cosmedin at Ravenna. But instead of the river-god floating on
the water or sitting on the bank, an angel seemed to fly on the
left, holding the necessary cloth. The form of the Saviour was
still good in its intention and attitude ; the composition was still
fair, but one peculiarity might be remarked which diminished its
effect. The Saviour seemed to receive the Baptism in a ditch.
Yet artists of later centuries, those even who might lay claim to
superior genius of conception, never thought fit, or were never
allowed, to alter this form of composition. 1
Still more characteristic, as showing the degeneracy of painters
in the seventh and eighth centuries, was a large bust of the Saviour
with a cruciform nimbus and a jewelled book in His hand, also
in the Pontian catacomb. 2 Here the artist sketched out with dark
lines on a roughly-prepared wall a form and type different from
those of previous times, but frequently met with in the eighth
and ninth centuries and even in the thirteenth. Hitherto the
Saviour's head had been regular, though the features had in the
course of time undergone change. During the predominance of
antique feeling, the long flowing hair served to give the head an
agreeable outline. Now the forms of the face and the contour of
the head and locks changed for the worse. The painter of the
Pontian catacomb produced a face almost as long as it was broad,
with arched brows, staring eyes with drooping corners, a nose
whose ball projected, a prominent cheek-bone and a small chin.
A vast mass of hair, divided in the middle and leaving two locks
pendent on the centre of the forehead, formed a circle round the
1 The angel is all but gone. At its feet on the bank is a stag or deer.
The three figures have the nimbus. Above the Saviour are indistinct traces
of what once no doubt was the dove of the Holy Ghost. S. John wears
sandals and a yellow skin dress, exposing his frame and legs. The flesh
tones are light and warm, the outlines heavily marked. [Cf. WILPEBT,
op. tit., plate 259.] 2 [!DEM, op, cit., plate 257.]
THE DECLINE OF PAINTING 37
face and gave to an otherwise broad neck the appearance of thin
ness. A small straggling beard covered the under part of the
chin. The right hand, raised in the act of benediction, was form
less. The draperies had lost all breadth and were marked by
angularity. The flesh tone was yellowish, the narrow shadows
dark. 1 Yet if this were a poor example of the spirit left in Roman
art, it was not the poorest : one might see in the chapel of S. Milix
and S. Pymenius in the Pontian catacomb two coarsely-executed
figures of those saints standing at each side of a cross painted in
imitation of jewelled gold. These figures were rude and almost
formless in outline, the heads were without shape and the eyes
staring. S. Pymenius wore the antique costume. The colour of
the flesh was a species of yellow red. Equally defective were five
figures standing erect in a row in the same catacomb and betraying
the usual absence of drawing, of form, and of thought in the artist. 2
As the eighth century closed, even the majesty of the Redeemer
was forgotten in the shapeless inanity of dark outlines and fake
forms, and the Saviour, as depicted in the chapel of S. Cecilia in
the catacomb of S. Callisto, was only worthy of attention as
exhibiting with a certain solemnity the complete prostration
the dotage, of the art of the time. 3 Nor was this state of collapse
in painting of short duration or, confined to Rome. It might be
1 This large bust of the Saviour was discovered on the side of the
vaulted recess where the above-mentioned Baptism is depicted. It is painted
on a very rough surface, and the lower part of the painting, including a
portion of the hand, has fallen. The colour of the draperies is almost gone,
but the mantle bears traces of blue and the tunic of red. The nimbus is
yellow at the outer rim, with a simple cross on a light blue ground. Part of
the left eye and of the chin of the figure are gone. The outlines, though
strongly marked, are not black. Beneath the bust are the words, " DE
DON1S DI GAVDIOSV3 FECIT."
2 Representing SS. Peter, Marcellinus, Pollio, and other saints. The
extremities of these figures are exceedingly defective, the hands indeed
scarcely indicated.
3 There is sometliing calm and solemn in the ugliness of the youthful,
largo-eyed, and narrow head. The breadth of the face at the level of the
eyes is excessive. The brows and eyes are arched, the iris staring. The nose
is straight, thin and long, and ends in a point, the upper lip long, the beard
a succession of curls round the base of the chin. The figure holds a book
in its left and blesses with its right. The fingers of the shapeless hands are
coarsely indicated. The type is one which repeats itself in the ninth century.
The outlines are thick and strongly marked. The nimbus is cruciform and
the cross jewelled, the mantle bluish and tunic red. The niche in which
the figure is represented seems to have been painted of an uniform yellow
body colour which served for flesh tone in lights, and above which the shadows
and half tints were painted in. Above the recess is a figure of a female saint
older in date perhaps of the seventh century. The catacomb of S. Callisto
was closed at the end of the eighth century, and theso paintings cannot be
later than the date above given. ' [Of. WILPBBT, op. tit., plate 200.]
38 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
traced in remains of old wall paintings representing the Saviour
and other saints in the crypt of S. Ansano at Spoleto, rude and
ill-drawn figures executed apparently in the ninth century without
change in the old technical methods. 1 It might be exemplified
by figures of S. Curtius and S. Desiderius in the catacombs of
Naples, equally defective in form, 2 and in a bust of one holding
a book in a circular frame resting on two cornucopia, rudely
sketched in the same catacomb in manner so far technically
changed that colour of much body and consistency was used. 3
The decline was in fact general throughout Italy, just as in its
processes painting was everywhere the same.
The utmost rudeness and the eclipse of all feeling, combined
with barbaric costume, might be traced in the tenth century, first
in a wall painting in the crypt of SS. Cosma e Damiano which seems
to have represented the Virgin and Child; secondly in a wall
painting in the crypt of S. Clemente at Rome, where, amongst
other figures, the Virgin, crowned and dressed in jewel-decked
apparel of close fit, holds the infant Saviour on her knee. 4
That the mosaists followed the same course as the painters is
not doubtful. They confined themselves to the reproduction of
the simplest subjects, such as the glorification of the Saviour,
the Virgin and saints, and seemed either unwilling or unable to
trust themselves to any effort of composition. Amongst the relics
of mosaics executed at the close of the sixth and during the seventh
centuries the mixture of Roman and Neo-Greek types and forms
prevailed with more or less intensity and persistence, yet this,
as may be seen, was but a passing impression. In the mosaics
of the inner side on the triumphal arch of S. Lorenzo fuori le
Mura, the Saviour glorified had a poor aspect ; the gazing eyes
and depressed noses, the long outlines of the attendant saints,
revealed the rapidity with which artistic power was disappearing,
yet at the same time the persistence of the classic feeling. 6
1 The Saviour here as usual in a red tunic, but with a light-coloured
mantle of red shadows. The nimbus is yellow and without the cross. The
tones light water-colour.
2 The saints with yellow nimbi. Desiderius with a cross in his right
hand. The hands large and wrists small. Curtius is dressed in blue, orna
mented with white flowers. The outlines coarse, shadows black, background
coloured and ornamented.
3 The execution of this figure is very rude. The colour, of much body,
has faded away.
* This fresco is also painted with much body of colour on a rough surface,
the outlines broad and marked.
5 The Saviour sits on the orb, a cross in His left, SS. Peter and Paul
respectively present SS. Lawrence, Pelagius, Stephen, and Hippolytus,
THE DECLINE OF MOSAIC 39
In S. Teodoro the Saviour was again glorified in the apsis
exactly as he was on the triumphal arch in S. Lorenzo ; and some
of the heads revealed a style approaching to that noticed in the
mosaics of SS, Cosma e Damiano mingled with that of the later
decline, 1 betraying already the impress of the Neo-Greek mosaists.
The apsis of S. Agnes was devoted to the glorification of that
saint in the presence of Honorius I. and S, Symmachus. The
long motionless figures stood side by side on a green ground,
without much gravity of attitude or of features. Antique feeling
might be traced in the relief of the male heads and in the broad
draperies ; but the spread of the Greek style might be noticed in
the straight lines of the features and folds, whilst the gradual
progress of decay was marked by sombre colour, dark and abrupt
shadows, heavy dark outlines, and a rude execution with the ill-
jointed cubes peculiar to Roman art. 2
In the middle of the seventh century the apsis of S. Venanzio
was devoted to the Virgin, who stood with outstretched arms in
the centre of the space with SS. Peter, Paul, John the Baptist,
and five other saints on each side of her. Above her a colossal
bust of the Saviour, resting on red clouds floating in a golden
heaven, gave her the benediction. A face of long but regular
forms was enclosed by long hair falling on the shoulders, and a
short beard beneath the chin. Two angels in flying draperies,
nimbed, with broad round heads and powerful necks, with hair
bound by bands whose ends floated in the wind, held guard on
still reminiscent of the forms of the sixth century. Round the head of
the Saviour is a cruciform nimbus. His draperies are dark. On the lower
sides of the arch are Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The church seems to have
been built by Pope Pelagius ; certainly his presence in the mosaic with a
model of the edifice indicates the period of the work, i.e. 570-590. With
the exceptions noted above, the mosaic has the character of the ninth and
tenth centuries, and this owing merely to repairs and restoration.
1 SS. Peter and Paul, severally introducing S. Theodore and another
saint, the former slippered, with a long pointed beard, holding a cross. The
heads of Peter and Paul are almost all of the old work remaining. The head
and hand of the Saviour are quite modern, the latter formless. The purple
mantle is also in great part new. S. Theodore holds a cross. The saint
introduced by S. Paul is totally altered. The feet and draperies of S. Paul
himself are partly renewed, the feet and hands of S. Peter modern, the whole
on gold ground.
2 The hand of the Eternal issues out of a triple star-bespangled halo with
a crown for S. Agnes, whose head is encircled with a nimbus. She wears
a purple tunic and a gold mantle lined white, and a jewelled collar ; in her
hands a scroll, the latter in part restored. Honorius, with a model of the
church in hand, wears a white tunic and purple mantle. S. Symmachus,
in a purple dress, carries a book. The mosaics may be assigned to the time
of Honorius I. (G25-638.)
40 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
each side of Him. Their forms as well as those of the Saviour
were completely reminiscent of the antique. In the upper face,
outside the apsis, were the symbols of the Evangelists, Bethlehem,
and Jerusalem, whilst, swelling the row of supporters, on each side
of the Virgin eight figures of saints might be seen. It might almost
be conceived that the Saviour and angels and the apsis figures
generally were of an earlier Roman period than those on the arch,
as the latter recalled the Neo-Greek character of S. Vitale of
Ravenna, not only in slenderness of form but in a more careful
execution, more harmonious colour, and a certain straightness of
lines in draperies such as had already marked the figures in S.
Agnes. 1
Equally reminiscent of the art developed in S. Agnes were the
mosaic figures in the apsis of S, Stefano Rotondo, where in the
heavy dark outlines and broad drapery, defined with straight
lines, one might still trace amidst a mass of repairs the character
of the seventh century. 2
A solitary example of the Neo-Greek influence at Rome and
the last of the seventh century that can be found there, is a
fragment removed to S. Pietro in Vinculis by Pope Agathon in
680, and now adorning an altar to the right on entering that
church. Here the artist represented the long slender form, the
young and slightly bearded face of S. Sebastian not nude, as in
more modern representations of that martyr, but holding the
crown, dressed in barbaric and richly-ornamented costume, and
wearing a long mantle fastened to the shoulder with a brooch.
This figure distinctly exhibited the impress of the more modern
art of Ravenna in its type and form. The draperies were some
what angular, the lights and shades fairly indicated, but leaving
by the absence of breadth a certain sense of flatness. The atti
tude was, however, still marked by a certain dignity.
With the close of the seventh century, old Roman feeling
1 S. Venanzio is an oratory or side chapel to the Baptistery of S. Giovanni
in Laterano. Some restoration may be noticed in the figure of S. Peter and
in the angels on each side of the Saviour. The saints on the arch to the loft
are SS. Paulinian, Telius, Asterius, and Anastasius, those to the right SS.
Maurus, Settimanius, Antiochianus, and Cajanus.
2 S. Stefano Rotondo was built on the Celian Hill in honour of SS. Primus
and Feiician, who are represented in the mosaic at the sides of a jewelled
cross beneath a medallion of the Saviour, the hand of the Eternal with the
crown issuing as usual from the prismatic rainbow. Very little of the
original mosaic remains. The cross and part of the background, including
the medallion of the Saviour, are filled up with stucco and repainted. Part
of the figure of S. Feiician is also coloured stucco.
NEO-GREEK INFLUENCE 41
resumed its sway, and the Neo-Greek influence which had pene
trated to Rome a century after Ravenna had ceased to yield a
single monument of art, vanished as it had coine, leaving as a
solitary trace of its passage a certain tendency to slenderness and
length of form. It was characteristic indeed of the independence
of Roman art that, whilst history tells of iconoclastic struggles
and of a general flight of Byzantine artists to Italy, not only
was not a trace of their influence to be found at Rome, but the
older Neo-Greek impress had disappeared. Of the early pro
ductions attributable to the eighth century at Rome, but a frag
ment remains. Yet this and the mosaics of the time of Leo III.
and Pascal I. would alone suffice to show how Roman artists trod
the path of decline independent in their weakness. To the faults
which had been confirmed by centuries of existence others were
superadded. To absence of composition, of balance in distribu
tion and connection between figures were added slenderness of
figure, neglect and emptiness of form, a general sameness of
features, and the total disappearance of relief by shadow. Still
the reminiscence of antique feeling remained in certain types, in
a sort of dignity of expression and attitude, and in breadth of
draperies, which, though defined by mere parallel lines, were still
massive. The Greek stare had completely disappeared from the
eyes. That art so reduced could still appear imposing to nations
of low cultivation, is apparent from the fact that Charlemagne
found it useful to take Italian architects and painters to Germany,
and that with their means he created schools whose influence was
undoubted, though it has probably been exaggerated by the
partiality of German writers.
Part of an Adoration of the Magi the fragment to which
allusion has been made, was transferred from the old basilica
of S. Peter to the sacristy of S. Maria in Cosmedin, and was
executed in the first years of the eighth century. The face of
the Virgin, although it betrayed a gross neglect of form, was not
without an expression of quiet repose. The eyes were natural,
the attitude equally so ; the shadowless draperies, sculptural in
their mass, were indicated by few straight and parallel lines, and
seemed to cling flatly to the frame. The form of the Infant was
defective, that of an angel, of antique type and regular features.
The absence of shadow, the blue lines in the white draperies, the
red lines in the flesh contours, the thinness and length of the
figures, gave this fragment a peculiar appearance, yet one which
42 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
characterised more or less the art of the whole century. The
execution was in every respect rude. 1
Time, which dealt unsparingly with the monuments of this
period, did not respect those of Leo III., whose activity appears
as remarkable in art as in politics. Leo, who invited Charlemagne
to Italy, not only built edifices, but caused many churches to
be repaired ; and amongst them S. Apollinare of Ravenna, whose
roof already threatened to fall in. Yet of the mosaics which he
caused to be executed in the Triclinium of S. Giovanni in Laterano, 2
to illustrate the victories and the power of Charlemagne, nothing
remains but two heads in the Vatican museum, which recall the
art of the eighth century, and a copy of the lost apsis mosaic
representing the apotheoses of Charlemagne and S. Sylvester, and
the Last Supper.
In SS. Nereo e Achilleo, however, an example of art at the
time of Leo may be found. On a triumphal arch, the Saviour
might be seen standing in an elliptical glory with Moses and Elias
at His sides and SS. Nereo and Achilleo prostrate before His feefc.
Right and left were the Annunciation, and the Virgin and Saviour
guarded by an angel. Here the general character of the eighth
century was completely maintained. The long slender figures had
at least the dignity of repose and were far from vulgar in form ;
their attitudes were simple and their proportions fair. The angels
were of the Roman type, the draperies indicated by free and few
straight lines, the faces rouged, and the outlines of the nude marked
in red. As before, a total absence of shadow might be noticed ;
but whilst art in its essentials displayed an increasing depression,
beauty of ornament revealed the maintenance of the old feeling
for accessories and details. 3 This feature became indeed more
evident as art retrograded. It was prominent in the time of
Pope Pascal, and might be noticed in the apsis mosaics of S. Maria
1 The Virgin, seated on a cushioned chair, is in the usual red tunic and
blue mantle, the Infant on her knee in a gold tunic, the angel to the right
behind the Virgin in white robes, S. Joseph on the left of paltry form. An
arm with a present is all that appears of the Magi. This fragment is on
gold ground. The Saviour has a cruciform nimbus ; S. Joseph is without one.
The mosaic has been restored, and some of the outlines are overpainted,
cubes large and rough. The date of the mosaic about 705.
2 A.D. 795-816.
8 SS. Nereo e Achilleo, below the baths of Caracalla at Borne, is a church
of the time of Leo III. The background of the mosaics on the arch is dark
blue with white and red clouds ; the Saviour's halo blue of a lighter tone.
Moses and Elijah are not nimbed. The head of the Virgin has been
damaged by restoring, and many other parts have suffered from the same
causes, but not enough to render a judgment impossible.
THE DECLINE AT ROME 43
called the Navicella on the Celian Hill There for the first time,
in a Glorification of the Virgin, the conspicuous defect of over
crowding first became remarkable. The preponderant size of the
Virgin as compared with that of the attendant angels and pro
strate Pope Pascal, showed the desire of the artist to impress
the spectator with her supernatural power. The defects of the
mosaics 1 were those of the eighth century and the execution
rude as ever. 2
That art now hurried to its fall was evident from the fact that
in the short lapse of one papal reign the mosaists of the close were
feebler than those of the opening. In the apsis mosaic of S.
Praxedis, a mere imitation of that in SS. Cosma e Damiano, exe
cuted in the time of Pascal I., 3 the figures had all the defects
1 A very pretty foliated ornament on gold ground, springing from vases,
forms a cornice to the apsidal arch. The Virgin is enthroned with the Infant
amidst slender angels and adored by a miniature figure of Pope Pascal,
prostrate and holding one of her feet. The angels rest on a ground strewed
with flowers. Above, the Redeemer on a rainbow, with the apostles in a
row at His sides, at the birth of the arch the Virgin's special prophets.
2 [The important discoveries of the late Father Mullooly at S. Clemente
in Borne have brought to light a considerable fragment of work of this time
in the subterranean church which he excavated. <7/. MULLOOLY, S. Clement
and his Basilica (Rome, 1869); ROLLES, S. Clement de Rome (Paris, 1873);
BROWNLOW, The Basilica of S. Clemente in Rome; and VENTUBI, op. cit. t
vol. iii., pp. 860-6. The present church is of the eleventh or twelfth century,
the walls of the subterranean basilica are of the age of Constantino, the
Mithraic cave discovered there being of the third century, the Memona or
" small stuccoed chamber" is of the first century, the " Titanic wall of
the time perhaps of the Tarquins. The " stuccoed chamber is all that
is left of the dwelling of S. Clement. It was probably under Leo IV. that
the basilica was painted in fresco, though some fragments might seem to
be of an earlier time. But in the south-west corner of the nave there is a
series of frescoes painted in the time of Leo IV. (847-855), as the inscription
tells us SANCTISSIMUS BOM. LEO QBT. P P. ROMANUS. There we see the
Assumption, the Crucifixion with S. Mary and S. John on either side, ^the
Maries at the Sepulchre, Christ in Hades, and a fragment of the Marriage
in Cana. On the other side of the nave are frescoes of our Lord in benedic
tion with S. Andrew, S. Clement, S. Methodius, and S. Cyril and two arch-
an^els. Again, S. Clement is enthroned by S. Peter, with S. Linus on one
side and ST Cletus on the other. This is spoiled by the floor of the upper
church. Below S. Clement is saying Mass when he is interrupted by
Sisinnius. In another fresco is set forth the life, death, and recognition of
S. Alexius, and the legend of the child miraculously saved in S Clement s
shrine under the sea. Last of all, the translation of the relics of S. Clement
and S, Cyril is presented. This subterranean church was probably destroyed
by ^Sects^The'Lviour with SS. Paul, Peter, Praxedis, Pudenziana, and
the twenty-four elders on the arch advancing to cast their crowns.^ ihe
church of S. Praxedis, on the Esquiline, was adorned with mosaics by
Pascal I., A.D. 817-824. The apsis figures stand within a space bounded
by two palm-trees, on one of which is as usual the phomix. Above the
Saviour the hand holds a crown. Below flows Jordan, beneath which are
Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the saints, and twelve sheep. ANASTASIUS (De
44 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
of their predecessors, with less brilliant colour and darker back
grounds. In the triumphal arch a quaint and realistic representa
tion was given of the New Jerusalem, laid out in the form of an
irregular polygon, in the midst of which the Saviour stood guarded
by three angels, and received the homage of the elders, whilst
at the gates angels seemed to invite the chosen people to enter.
A chapel in the same church, 1 called the garden of Paradise, was
likewise covered with mosaics the archivolt with double rows
of saints and prophets in medallions 2 the ceiling with a medallion
centre representing the Saviour in benediction supported in the
diagonals by four angels resting on globes. None of these mosaics
exhibited an improvement on the rude forms and execution that
had now prevailed since the opening of the eighth century, but a
change had taken place in the mode of rendering the features of
the Saviour, and the type had become the same which marked
the colossal form of the Redeemer in the Pontian catacomb. 3
The face had become as broad as it was long, the prominent
cheeks were relieved on a mass of hair disposed in a circle with a
pendent lock on the centre of the forehead. It was a type which,
though defective and unpleasant, had been generally adopted in
the ninth century and was revived as late as the thirteenth,
Two or three edifices in Rome still exist to mark the complete
fall of art at this time. In S. Cecilia the apsis mosaic, glorifying
the Redeemer, S. Cecilia, and Pope Pascal, was filled with mere
flat and empty forms, darkly outlined, shadowless, rouged on the
cheeks, long, stiff, and defective in shape. 4 Art in fact had in
VitisPont.) and the following inscriptions prove the exact date of this church
and its mosaics. In the frieze below the semidome, " Emicat aula pise variis
decorata metallis Praxedis Pontineis summi studio Paschalis." The paint
ings which RUMOHR mentions in this church no longer exist (Forachungen,
vol. L, p. 246).
1 [Cappelia di S. Zeno.]
2 Upper row, the Saviour blessing centre; lower row, the Virgin and
Child, centre. The medallions on the row right and left of the Virgin contain
ten female and two male saints. Those in the row on each side of the
Saviour are apostles and prophets. Below the birth of the arch of the door
on each side are two modern medallion portraits of Popes. In tho spandrils
of arch busts of prophets. These mosaics have been extensively restored.
3 The Saviour inscribed " De donis dfii Gaudiosus feeit " is here intended.
4 Subject Saviour erect blessing six saints about Him, S. Peter intro
ducing a male and female saint with crowns, S. Paul, for the first time with
the sword, introducing S. Cecilia, who in her turn recommends Pope Pascal.
The church owes its mosaics to Pascal I. The background is so dark as to
be almost black, and on it are red clouds. The palms, phoenix, Jordan,
the Lamb, and sheep as in S. Praxedis. Pope Pascal is said to have caused
scenes of the life of S. Cecilia to be painted in the church. A fragment of
these paintings remains, but is so blackened by time as to defy criticism.
An erigraving of some of them may be seen in AGIN COURT, plate 84, No. 3.
THE DECLINE AT HOME 45
this monument, parted with every species of character, and in it
Roman and Neo-Greek manner were lost in a miserable cento.
Yet if possible the mosaics of S. Marco, 1 the church of the
Venetians, showed a still deeper decline. If one excepts the
medallion Saviour on the arch of the apsis and the figures of
prophets at the side pointing to Him the former being of the
type already noticed in S. Praxedis as an imitation of that in the
Pontian catacomb the figures were of the second infancy of
delineation, each of them standing or hanging on a little pedestal. 2
All previous defects might be found in them, and new ones in
addition, the faces and features being angular, beards pointed,
heads without forehead or cranium feet and hands deformed,
outlines broad and dark and edged with red. Yet this unpleasant
mosaic was still surrounded by a rich and beautiful ornament.
A doubtful example of mosaic, in so far as date is concerned,
may be noted in the small and dark chapel of the Sancta
Sanctorum in the Lateran, sacred to papal meditations. Here in
the centre of the roof an artist of the eighth or ninth century
depicted the Saviour blessing the world and holding the book,
in the type and form peculiar to the mosaists of the time of
Pascal I., or to the painter of the Pontian catacomb. The
Redeemer was delineated with a round head, pendent forelock,
and a small beard divided into curls. His features were, however,
less irregular than those of other figures of the same class. Four
angels in flight and laboured movement supported the medallion,
and still recalled the antique with a mixture of a later Greek char
acter which remains to be noticed in Italy. Figures of saints in
the same style filled the lunettes.
In the same manner in which the Neo-Greek influence extended
for a while from Ravenna to Rome, it spread in the beginning of
the ninth century to Milan, where the church of S. Ambrogio was
brought to a certain degree of splendour by the execution of
mosaics, whose character was not essentially different from that
which might be expected from artists who followed the precepts
of the later mosaists of the exarchate. The Saviour was repre
sented in the apsis of S.' Ambrogio, enthroned, with S. Protasius
on His right and S. Gervasio on His left. The archangels Michael
and Gabriel, guardians of the two saints, seemed to hover above
1 This church was restored in 833 by Pope Gregory IV.
2 Subject the Bedeemer between SS. Mark, Agapitus and Agnes (left),
Felician and Mark introducing Pope Gregory IV. (right).
46 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
them with a certain vehemence of action, holding in their hands
reeds and crowns. 1
These mosaics displayed more of the character of the Roman
productions of the seventh or eighth centuries, 2 than that of later
mosaics in the capital of Italy, Had art continued at Ravenna, it
would probably have assumed the form which characterised S.
Ambrogio in the ninth century. It would have presented to the
spectator the same costumes and attitudes, the same gazing eyes,
the same vehemence of action and richness of ornament. 3
Of the manuscripts of the period illustrated in this chapter,
it might be unnecessary to speak, were it not that they confirm
the historian in his judgment of the general character of art at
Rome during the time of its degeneracy and fall. The independ
ence of Roman painters and the persistence with which they clung
to the traditions of the antique, are indeed curiously exemplified
in their miniatures, of which here is a sketch for the more curious.
In a Terence MS. of the eighth or ninth century, now preserved
at the Vatican, 4 one figure at least and a pseudo-portrait of the
dramatist, in a medallion carried by two masks, characterise the period
completely. The figure inscribed "Prologus" was depicted by the
miniaturist with the grotesque face of an antique mask, in a violet
Roman tunic and a light red mantle, and holding a bow in his left
hand. This is the only figure which has not been altered by restoring.
Its proportions are fair, though the hands are coarse and large. The
outlines are of a dark red and the colours of the flesh of a light warm
yellow. The portrait of Terence is likewise characteristic and
reminiscent of the antique. Feebler, and apparently the effort of a
childish imitator of classic forms, are the miniatures of a MS. Virgil
at the Vatican, executed apparently in the ninth century and much
restored. 5 That the artist was ignorant and inexperienced is proved
by the deformity of the figures, feet, hands and articulations. Yet
the compositions are imitated from those of a better time.
1 Beneath the pedestal of the throne three saints, Marcellina, Satirus,
and Candida, were depicted in medallions, and, at the sides of these, were
two compositions, the first illustrating the sermon of S. Ambrose at Milan
and the second the burial of S, Martin at Tours by the same bishop.
2 For instance SS. Teodoro, Agnes, Venanzio, Pietro in Vinculis, where
the impress of Ravennese art at Rome has been noticed.
3 The mosaics of S. Ambrogio are said to have been executed in 832
by order of Gaudentius, a monk. They have been much restored at various
times, and probably as early as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the
form of the Saviour being evidently too feeble and lank to be of the same
period as the head, which seems well preserved. The inscriptions of these
mosaics are Gfreek. Above the archangels are the words OJP. MIXAHA
and 0^. TABPIHA. Yet the cubes of these mosaics are large and rude.
* MSS. No. 3868 of the Vatican library.
fi MSS. No. 3867 of the Vatican library.
MINIATURES 47
Equally rude, but interesting perhaps as an example of the
technical processes of the period, is a pontifical of the ninth century
executed for the use of Bishop Landulfus of Capua, now in the Minerva
at Eome. Vasari's epithet of ct tintor " might be applied to the artist.
Roman art in its fall may be traced in the stout, short, heavy figures
that convey the representation of a clerical ordination of the period.
Some animation and action may be said to compensate for absence of
true form. The large square heads, round black eyes, and rouged
cheeksthe shadowless forms, drawn with coarse dark outlines, com
bine with the draperies of uniform colour and marked out with parallel
strokes, to present a miniature counterpart of the apsis figures in
many a Roman church of the eighth and ninth centuries. The technical
execution is as usual a light thin water-colour of a warm yellowish
tinge in the flesh. 1
From the seventh to the end of the eighth century Rome
merely affords examples of formal ceremonial pictures. Of
religious compositions in the true sense of the word there is scarcely
a trace in mosaics or painting. The miniatures of the period
which remain are either feeble imitations of the antique, or so low
in the scale of art as to leave little room for criticism. It may
therefore be interesting to discover if in sculpture something can
be found to fill up the void. The wood reliefs of the gates of
Santa Sabina at Rome are in this respect valuable remnants.
Santa Sabina was built on the Aventine Hill by Pope Celestin I.
in 421, but the gates were only placed in it by Innocent III.
some years before the church was granted by Honorius III.
to the Dominicans. The gates are divided into numerous square
panels containing scenes from the Old and New Testaments. It
may be remarked at once that the panelled and beautifully orna
mented framing of the reliefs is of a different wood from that
of the sculptures which it encloses, and that the subjects are older
than the border which surrounds them. A careful examination
of the sculptures will easily convince the observer that their char
acter is not of the twelfth century, and that, if they were exe
cuted in the pontificate of Innocent III., they are copies of older
works. But experience will hardly warrant the assumption that
a copyist could produce such a work as this in the twelfth century,
1 Another miniature of the ninth century, representing the rite of baptism
by immersion, may be noticed here. It belongs to an unnumbered MS.
in the Minerva at Rome. The short figures, the draperies, are even more
reminiscent of' the antique than the Terence, No. 3808. The drawing,
particularly of the extremities, is defective, the eyes are very round and
open, the mode of colouring the same as in the Terence MSS., the outlines
very marked and coarse.
48 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
and were it so, the gates of Santa Sabina would be a solitary
example of their kind. 1 In style these carved subjects are a
continuation of that imitation of the classic antique which pre
vailed in the earlier centuries, yet composed and executed with
remarkable spirit. The sculptors, whoever they may have been,
gave animation and action to their figures such as were unknown
to the mosaists or painters even of the time of Leo III. Their
figures were mostly of the short Roman character, wherever the
necessity of subject and space did not oblige them to slender-
ness. Their ideas of costume and of drapery, their conception of
Bible scenes, were of the kind which had been consecrated by
time in the paintings of the catacombs or in the mosaics of Santa
Maria Maggiore. Without wearying the reader with minute
descriptions of all the subjects in the gates a few examples will
amply suffice to justify the foregoing conclusions.
For instance, Elisha is represented receiving the mantle of Elijah.
The latter, in a classic car drawn by two horses, is directed to heaven
by an angel in flight, whose form imitates the bold action and the
attitude of a figure of Victory. Nothing more classical, no better-
draped figure, was produced by any of the imitators of the antique
during the Christian decline. Nor is this a solitary figure, being but
the counterpart, as regards the qualities above referred to, of another
angel anointing the head of one standing beneath Mm. The figure
of Elisha is slender and elegant, and contrasts with others which are
short and thick-set, as for instance in the composition in which Moses
performs the miracle of the serpents. In a third relief representing
the Hebrews landing from the Red Sea, and welcomed by an angel,
whilst Pharaoh appears in a biga in the midst of the waves, it is im
possible not to remember the colossal figures of the Monte Cavallo at
Rome, imitated by an artist of a later time. In the Adoration of the
Magi, where the Virgin in a Roman chair holds the Infant and receives
the offerings of the three kings who are dressed in Phrygian costume,
it is difficult to forget the same forms of composition in the earliest
catacomb pictures. Again the Saviour, may be seen on the road to
Calvary, by the side of Simon of Cyrene, who carries the cross. The
figure of the Redeemer, the head, bearded and enclosed by long hair,
recall the old types of the Christian time, whilst the composition itself
is reminiscent of the mosaics of S. Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna. The
Saviour in an attitude of command in one of the medallions, with
His simple nimbus, and fine drapery, is very different in type from
the Redeemer even of the ninth century, whilst in a similar medallion,
1 [<?/. VENTTJBI, op. cit. t vol. i., p. 476, note 2, gives a bibliography of
the gates of S. Sabina ; cf. also GBISAB, Analecta Homana (Roma, 1898),
vol. i. Venturi regards them as work of the middle of the fifth century.]
HEAD OF CHRIST
From the Catacomb of S. Poritiano at Rome.
CHRIST AND THE" VIRGIN, WITH SAINTS
From the Mosaic in S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome.
Alinari.
DOORS OF S, SABINA, ROME
THE GATES OF S. SABINA 49
Clirist giving the benediction and sitting in glory, is sliort in stature
and wears the antique costume, the leggings of the same figure in the
funeral monuments of Bavenna.
But for the fact that short and slender figures are found in
close proximity, one might suppose that these sculptures are of
a date as early as some of the mosaics of Ravenna. They have
indeed much of the character which distinguished the sculptures
of the close of the exarchate. The symbols and monograms are
the same as those of the sarcophagi. It may be reasonable there
fore to give these bas-reliefs a date anterior to the tenth and even
to the ninth century, Nor is a certain amount of historical
evidence wanting to confirm this view. The gates of Santa Sabina
are referred to in Annales ordinis predicatorium, by Thomas
Maria Mafnachio, 1 as of " seculo etiam VII fortasse vetustiores."
That Rome, during the tenth and eleventh centuries, yielded
no examples of mosaic or painting is neither strange nor unnatural. 2
Yet that art still continued to exist in this the most unhappy
and troubled time of the Papacy, is proved not merely by one
example which shall be noticed, but by the fact that, when
Gregory VII. restored some of its power to the Church, the
arts reappeared, maintaining after the lapse of more than a hun
dred years the character and the peculiarities for which they
had been remarkable in the period immediately preceding their
apparent disappearance.
To the Benedictines accrued in some measure the merit of
having preserved the traditions of art ; and in one of their churches,
in the, neighbourhood of Rome, the works and, for the first time,
the names of Roman artists are preserved.
To the north of the capital, and about seven miles from Nepi,
on the road to Civita CasteUana, lies the castle and the Benedictine
church of Sant* Elia, the latter an edifice of very old Christian
form, and* covered internally with wall paintings by two brothers
Johannes and Stephanus and their nephew ISTicolaus of^ Rome.
The exact period in which these artists executed the internal
decorations of S. Elia cannot be ascertained ; but they were men
who combined the imitation of forms and compositions, charac
teristic of various ages of Roman art, with a technical execution
which can only be traced as far back as the tenth century. Their
* Rome, 1756; vol. i., c. xvii, p. 569. _ .
2 [Though only fragments remain, the important paintings at b. foaba
are work of the early tenth century.]
50 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
work, though it has suffered from the ravages of time, illustrates
a phase hitherto comparatively unknown. They seem to have
been men accustomed to mosaics, for they mapped out their
colours so as to resemble that species of work. They used, not
the thin water-colour of the early catacomb painters at Rome or
Naples, but the body-colour of the later artists, who painted the
Christ of the chapel of S. Cecilia in S. Callisto and the figures of
Curtius and Desiderius in the catacomb of S. Januarius. On a
rough surface of plaster they laid in the flesh tones of an uniform
yellowish colour, above which coarse dark outlines marked the
forms, red tones the half tints and blue the shadows. The lights
and darks were stippled on with white or black streaks, and a
ruddy touch on the cheeks seemed intended to mark the robust
health of the personage depicted. The hair and draperies were
treated in the same manner. They were painted of an even
general tone streaked with black or white lines to indicate curls,
folds, light and shadow. The result was a series of flat unre
lieved figures, which were, in addition, without the charm of good
drawing or expression.
In tie semidome of the apsis, the Saviour was represented stand
ing with His right arm extended and His left holding a scroll. 1 On
His right S. Paul in a similar attitude was separated from S. Elias by
a palm, on which the phoenix symbolised Eternity. S. Elias, in a
warrior's dress, pointed with his left hand to S. Paul. To the Saviour's
left S. Peter, whose form is now but dimly visible, and probably another
saint were depicted. A background of deep blue, spotted with red
clouds of angular edges, relieved the figures. This was in fact an
apsis picture similar to those in the numerous churches of Rome,
and in arrangement not unlike that of SS. Cosma e Damiano. The
form of the Redeemer indeed, His head, of regular features with a
nose a little depressed and the flesh curiously wrinkled, His high fore
head, and long black hair falling in locks, His double-pointed beard,
tunic, mantle, and sandals had a general likeness with those of SS.
Cosma e Damiano. The saints, on the other hand, in their slender
forms, S. Elias with his small head and long body, were reminiscent
of later mosaics, whilst their attitude and movement, their draperies
defined with lines, their defective feet and hands were not unlike
those of SS. Nereo e Achilleo. The Neo-Greek influence might be
traced in other parts of the paintings of S. Elia. Beneath the green
foreground, where the four rivers gushed from under the feet of the
Saviour, and the Lamb stood pouring its blood into a chalice, an
ornament separated the paintings of the semidome from those in the
lower courses of the apsis. In the uppermost of these, Jerusalem,
1 The hand of the Eternal is above in the key of the apsis.
S. ELI A OF NEPI 51
and in the intervals of three windows, twelve sheep in triple groups
between palms, were depicted. Bethlehem no doubt closed the arrange
ment on the right, but is now gone. In the next lower course the
Saviour sat enthroned between two angels and six female saints,
amongst which 8. Catherine in a rich costume and diadem and S. Lucy
may still be recognised. The rich ornaments, the round eyes and oval
faces of these female saints, were not without admixture of the foreign
element which had left its impress on Eome in the seventh and eighth
centuries. Still, the angels, with their hair bound in tufts and their
flying bands, were of regular features. The painters covered the sides
of the tribune with three courses of pictures, fragments of which
remain. On the upper to the right, the prophets with scrolls, on
the second, martyrs with the chalice, on the third, scenes from the
Old Testament. On the left the lowest course was likewise filled with
biblical subjects taken from Revelation. The aisles and nave were
also doubtless painted, but the pictures have unfortunately dis
appeared. The painters inscribed their names as follows beneath the
feet of the Saviour in the apsis Jon et Stefanu Ms picto , . e . .
Eomani et Nicolaus Nepv Jofcs. 1
These paintings of S. Elia are far more instructive and inter
esting than those of a later date, and even than the mosaics of
the eleventh century at Rome. From all these, indeed, one may
conclude that, whilst the Italians were on the threshold of a new
political and social life, their art was but a continuation of that
mixture of Roman and Byzantine feebleness and of those errors
which had sprung from the troubled nature of earlier ages. The
art of Italy rose indeed after the tenth century. Whilst, how
ever, it showed no rapid development of power in thought, con
ception, or expression, it imbibed a better taste in the less
important branch of ornamentation, a change which had begun
in the lowest period of the decline, and which consisted in the
use of the richest borders and foliage tracery and in the substitu
tion of gold for dark blue backgrounds. A more interesting
change, however, was the development which became apparent
1 Tho scroll in the hand of S. Paul is inscribed " Certamen certavi, cursu
consumavi. Fide separavi." S. Peter holds a scroll inscribed " Tu es
Christus films Dei vivi quid nunc mundfl venisti" On each side of the
medallion in which the Lamb is depicted is the inscription "Vos qui intratis
me primti respiciatis omnibus ardua clamidat, ac si a divas otia qua &c."
The sheep are painted on a yellow ground simulating gold. The nimbus of
the Saviour and those of the saints are also yellow imitations of gold. One
of the windows between which the sheep are represented, is filled up and
contains a figure of S. John of the fifteenth century. The angels on each
side of the Saviour in glory on the wall beneath the semidome carry in one
hand the labarum, in the other parti-coloured circles of blue and white.
The female saints are on a blue ground spangled with stars.
52 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
in the sphere of subjects which artists were enabled to treat
pictorially. The most painful incidents of the Passion of our
Lord had till now been avoided ; and the nearest approach to
them that had as yet been attempted was the road to Calvary,
where the Saviour was represented proceeding to Golgotha accom
panied by Simon of Cyrene carrying His cross. The tenth and
eleventh centuries displayed not merely all absence of dislike but
a certain mournful pleasure in depicting the sufferings and death
of the Redeemer. The numerous crucifixes, in which He is depicted
in the various phases of His agony, may perhaps serve a little
later to illustrate a chapter of their own. In churches where
this episode was first represented, it was generally placed exactly
opposite to another, where Christ after the Resurrection sat in
glory to judge " the quick and the dead." In S. Urbano alia
Caffarella at Rome, for instance, the Crucifixion was painted in the
eleventh century inside the portal. The Saviour stood with head
and frame erect on a projection, where His feet were separately
nailed to the wood. A slight drapery surrounded His hips. On
the right Calphurnius held up the sponge, whilst on the left
Longinus struck the Saviour with his lance. 1 Yet in this period
of His agony the Redeemer maintained the serenity and open eyes
of one that should not betray a sign of pain. Right and left stood
the Virgin and S. John Evangelist, and above them the thieves,
one of whom repentant looked towards the Saviour, both in quiet
attitudes and with arms bound behind the cross. At the foot of
the instrument of death a strangely-dressed figure, intended per
haps for the Magdalen, held a cloth and seemed willing to support
the projection on which the Saviour's feet rested. 2 Above the
Saviour two half figures of winged angels stood. The sequel of
the story of the Crucifixion extended to both of the side walls,
on which scenes of the Passion, and the legends of S. Urbanus,
S. Cecilia, S. Lawrence, and other saints were depicted. In the
choir, and facing the Crucifixion, the Saviour sat enthroned giving
the blessing and holding a book between two angels ; S. Peter
and S. Paul on each side of Him. In the episodes of the Passion,
Christ might be seen now carrying His cross. Were these paintings
1 The names are inscribed.
2 At the base of the Crucifixion are the words " Bonizzo frt axri M. XL,"
an unusual mode of expressing the date of A.D. 1011. But the inscription
is repainted possibly over an older one. RTTMOHB, (Forachiwgen, vol. i.,
p. 277) had already noticed this. The inscription is repeated, according to
him, in an old MS. with miniatures copied from these paintings in the
Barberini library at Rome.
EARLY ART IN SOUTH ITALY 53
not so totally repainted and restored they might serve further to
illustrate the methods in practice in the beginning of the eleventh
century. The least damaged parts are on the walls of the aisle
to the left. One may remark generally that old Roman charac
teristics of composition and line still remain. In the Adoration
of the Magi the three kings are in Plirygian caps and dresses.
There is a certain repose in the somewhat slender figures, yet
more animation in gesture than in the compositions of SS. Nereo e
Achilleo.
In the Annunciation, where the Virgin sits on a throne whilst
the angel 'presents himself, an old woman in fair action may be
seen in a neighbouring room. The draperies are also more free
in fold than before.
Of a class not dissimilar from these are a series of paintings
removed from S. Agnese of Rome and now in the Museum of S.
Giovanni in Laterano, the oldest of which are scenes from the lives
of S. Catherine and S. Agatha. Here the proportions of the figures
are similar to those in S. Urbano, but perhaps a little more slender.
The small round eyes, thin noses, mouths, and necks are not more
disagreeable than the wiry red outlines, the yellow flesh tones
painted with full body-colour over a preparation of verde, and
the rouged cheeks. In continuation of these one may further
notice in the same museum eleven scenes of the life of S. Benedict
of similar system and style. 1
* Whilst painters thus continued to exist at Rome and handed
down to each other mere traditions of form, art was recruited in
the South of Italy from the workshops of the East; and Leo
of Ostia relates that in 1070 Desiderius, Abbot of Montecassino,
sent for Greek mosaists to adorn the apsis above the high altar,
and ordered the novices of his order (he was a Benedictine) to
learn the art of mosaic, " which since the invasion of the Lombards
had been lost in Italy." 2 That Leo of Ostia was rash in the latter
assertion needs no better proof than the narrative in the fore
going pages. 3 A question of more real interest is, whether the
Byzantine Greeks imported by the Abbot of Montecassino were
better artists than their contemporaries at Rome. It is a question,
1 Other fragments of frescoes in this museum for instance, a head of a
bishop and a figure of a saint (aged) are more modern, and probably of the
fourteenth century.
2 LEO OF OSTIA, ap. Mur atari Rer. Itdl. Scriptores t iv., p. 442.
3 He may have meant that the art of mosaics had been lost in South
Italy and particularly under the Lombard princes of Beneventum and Capua,
whose rule lasted till the middle of the eleventh century.
54 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
however, which must remain unanswered, because the mosaics of
Montecassino have disappeared. Yet it may be sufficient to re
collect that in the ninth century the mosaics of S. Ambrogio of
Milan were no better than those of the same period at Rome.
In the absence of mosaics, it is gratifying to be able to point out
a series of paintings of the same time executed for the Benedictines
of S. Angelo in Formis at Capua, which, being essentially of a
Greek character, will prove first, that artists from Greece or Con
stantinople were employed in South Italy in the eleventh century,
and secondly, that they were in no respect superior to their Italian
contemporaries. As to the period of these paintings it may be
necessary to consult some historical records. In 1058 the Norman
Richard became possessed of the Principality of Capua, and, having
been anointed with the holy ampulla at Montecassino, he conceded
to the Benedictines the right to found a new monastery at S.
Angelo in Formis, near Capua. This monastery and the church of
S. Angelo were endowed in 1065 with the funds belonging to the
churches of SS. Giovanni, Salvadore, and Ilario of Capua, which
time had completely ruined. 1 The church of S. Angelo was,
however, not enlarged until 1073, when, at the request of
Pope Gregory VII., and with the assistance of Richard of Nor
mandy and Erveo, Archbishop of Capua, the works were com
menced by Desiderius, the third Abbot of Montecassino, 2 the same
who had already restored and adorned with mosaics the chief
convent of the Benedictines in South Italy. About 1075 the
church of S. Angelo was consecrated by Erveo, Archbishop of
Capua, 3 and the successful termination of his labours was recorded
by Desiderius in the following inscription now on the architrave
of the great portal :
CONSCENDES CAELTJM SI TE COGNOVERIS IPSUM
UT DESIDERIUS QUI SACRO FLAMINE PLENUS
A COMPLENDO LEGEM DEITATI CONDIDIT AEDEM,
UT CAPIAT FBUCTUM QUI FINEM NESQIAT ULLUM.
The artists employed by Desiderius painted the following
subjects :
In the apsis the Saviour was enthroned in the act of benediction
and holding the book. The symbols of the Evangelists were at His
sides, and the hand of the Eternal appeared out of an opening
1 Lo MONACO'S Dissertazione suite varie vicende di S. Angelo in Formis
(fol., Capua, 1839), p. 13.
2 Ibid., p. 12. 3 Ibid., p. 15.
EARLY ART IN SOUTH ITALY 55
surrounded by a fan-like ornament. Beneath the semidome and on
the wall of the apsis the three archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael
separated the abbot Desiderius, standing with the model of the church
in his hand, from a figure of a Benedictine now almost effaced.
On the opposite wall, and therefore above the chief portal, the
Last Judgment was depicted. High up in an elliptical glory the
Saviour sat enthroned, and distributed the blessing and the curse
with His hands, the only part of the figure now remaining. Below
Him, an angel raised high above His head a long scroll, of which the
inscription has disappeared ; whilst two angels at His sides held
scrolls likewise, inscribed with the words, " VENITE BENEDICTI " and
" ITE MALEDICTI." Above the Saviour and between the upper win
dows, four angels sounded the last trump. Beneath, in two courses
on each side of the Saviour, were twelve angels in adoration and
twelve apostles on long benches. At the sides of the angels, below
the Saviour, were grouped the blessed saints, martyrs, and confessors
of both sexes on one hand, and devils pursuing condemned souls into
the everlasting abyss on the other. On the lowest course to the left,
groups of the just, plucking and wearing flowers, were made to contrast
with others on the right, tortured or carried by demons to the foot
of Lucifer, a vast monster, now unfortunately headless, sitting in
chains, with claws for hands, and holding under his arm the writhing
form of Judas Iscariot. The action and terrible movement of this
infernal picture showed the interest which was already taken in the
eleventh century in the delineation of the everlasting torments re
served for sinners ; and the importance given to the size of Lucifer
proved the desire of impressing spectators with dread of sin.
The rude painters of S. Angelo in Formis indeed succeeded
much better in representing the tortures of hell than the majesty
or the joys of Paradise. Their idea of the Saviour, as it was ex
posed in the apsis, was inexpressibly painful. It is difficult to
discover a more unpleasant type of Christ than they here depicted.
A thin feeble figure with formless hands and feet was surmounted
by a large grim head of bony aspect, enclosed by flat lank red hair,
and lined out with dark contours. A wrinkled brow, arched over
large round gazing eyes a thin long pointed nose, a little mouth,
and a short straggling beard, two daubs on the cheeks, were the char
acteristic features of the Redeemer.
The Archangels of the apsis were round-headed, and had large
almond-shaped eyes and pointed noses. A mere line indicated the
mouth. Patches of red on the cheeks, broad necks, wings, dresses
profusely covered with gold in square patterns and precious stones,
completed their tawdry delineation. One of the Evangelists and the
angels blowing the trumpets of the Judgment were figures taking
long and vehement strides in empty space ; and an attempt seemed
56 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
to be made to imitate flying draperies by meaningless triangular flaps
of stuff. Here and there a grand intention might be traced in a
solitary figure, as for instance in the angel beneath the Saviour of the
Last Judgment, whose attitude was fine, and found imitators in later
centuries. On the walls above the arches of the central aisles three
courses of paintings represented, first, the prophets and kings of the
Old Testament, next, scenes from the Passion, and last, a series now
obliterated by whitewash. Amongst the scenes of the Passion, one
was the Crucifixion, in which the Saviour was represented, erect with
His feet nailed separately to a projection. His face, slightly bent
towards the Virgin, who stood below on the left, seemed to express
menace. His frame and limbs were well proportioned, but most
rudely drawn. The pectoral muscles and lower ribs were marked
by triple red lines. The Virgin and S. John near the cross were stiff
and motionless. At the sides, the rending of the garment, the crowd
of priests, and soldiers on horseback were represented. Above the
Saviour, the sun and the moon, the latter under the form of a wailing
female, were depicted, and angels in attitudes expressive of agonising
grief flew about the cross. 1 Outside the church, a double recess above
the architrave of the chief portal contains a half figure of the Virgin
with raised arms, wearing a heavy diadem of gold and richly gilt
close-fitting vestments, in a medallion supported by two flying angels
of slender forms and fair movement. Beneath, in the inner lunette,
a half figure of an angel, likewise in close-fitting dress adorned with
lozenge patterns of gold, and winged, holds a reed in its right and a
disc on which is written MP 0V. These two figures, less rude and of
fairer type than the paintings inside the church, seem to have been
painted by one having supervision over a commoner sort of artists,
who must have carried out the labour of the interior under his orders.
His colours were used on the same principle as theirs, but with better
judgment. 2 The general character of these paintings is that of
stamping or tarsia. They are executed on a single layer of plaster
or intonaco prepared for flesh parts with a general coat of verde,
covered with a thick yellow body-colour in the lights, shadowed
with a brownish red. The draperies are tawdry and sharply con
trasted in tone. The painters, Greeks, as is proved by the inscrip
tions, by the costumes, and by the exaggerated form and action of the
figures, knew no other technical processes than their Roman rivals
at Nepi, but were inferior even to them in knowledge. S. Angelo
in Formis is interesting merely because it reveals the state of the
Byzantine art of the period in its pure deformity, and because it
presents the earliest example of the complete ornamentation of a
1 In S. Angelo each side aisle had an apsis, of which that to the right
still preserves traces of a Virgin between two angels, with six busts of female
saints below. [Since this book was written other subjects have been un
covered from the whitewash.]
2 Lunettes of porch are adorned with painted scones from the legends
of S. Anthony the abbot and S. Paul the hermit, now in part obliterated.
EARLY ART IN SOUTH ITALY 57
church with subjects in subordination to each other. It affords further
the first known example of that great subject of the Last Judgment,
which became so constant a favourite with artists of later centuries.
S. Angelo in Formis is not the only monument in Capua whose
erection was due to the zeal of Desiderius, He caused the
monastery o S. Benedetto to be rebuilt, and ordered that the
Saviour and the apostles Peter and Paul should be represented
in mosaic in the apsis of the church. 1 Ornaments of the same
kind, begun at his desire in the aisles, were finished by his
successor Oderisius, Abbot of Montecassino. 2 To the latter the
church of S. Giovanni of Capua owed its mosaics, a part of which
were subsequently transferred to the cathedral. Thus, if the
mosaics of the time of Desiderius are absent, those of his successor
may afford a criterion as to their value. The remnants of the
mosaics of S. Giovanni represent the Virgin holding the infant
Saviour in her arms, whilst the two S. Johns stand at her sides.
The words MP 0V indicate the Greek origin of the mosaists, quite
as much as the figures recall low Byzantine art. The Virgin and
saints are deformities, with angular draperies, and wooden atti
tudes. The Saviour is long, thin, and lean. The mosaic is in fact
no better than the worst part of the paintings of S. Angelo in
Formis ; 3 and posterity may therefore look with equanimity on
the loss of the mosaics of Montecassino and other churches of
Capua. Still further to the south of Italy the defective Byzantine
style of Capua may be traced at Otranto and Amalfi ; 4 and
its continuation till late in the thirteenth century can be followed,
first, in pictures of the Naples Museum and other galleries, assigned
to Bizzamano d' Otranto ; 5 and finally in a Virgin giving the breast
to the infant Saviour in the monastery of Monte Vergine near
Avellino. This Virgin indeed, with her vast diadem and gilt dress
and her ugly form and features, is quite of the low Byzantine art
and inferior to one at Amalfi. 6
1 Lo MONACO, ubi sup., cites the original record, p- 20.
2 Oderisius or Odericus was Abbot of Montecassino in 1089, as appears
from a document of that year in the archives of the chapter of Capua. See
document in Appendix to MABCO Lo MONACO'S Varie Vicende, ubi sup.
* This mosaic is besides much damaged by moving and repair.
4 Church of the Madonna del Rosario, in which is a painting of the Virgin
and Child. 11-1
5 A picture in the Naples Museum, quite in this oriental style and assigned
to Bizzamano, represents S. George on horseback, assisted by a miniature
figure helping him to spear the dragon. The Eternal's hand appears above,
and the usual female on one side.
6 The gilt nimbus of the Virgin of, Monte Vergine projects at an angle,
so as to exhibit the head more clearly to the spectator.
58 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
The Norman princes of South Italy were not long contented
with the poor productions of such mosaists and painters as those
of Capua artists who cannot indeed be supposed to represent the
best that the East could produce in the eleventh century. After
they had invaded and conquered Sicily in the twelfth century,
they found no apparent difficulty in bringing together some
hundreds of workmen who adorned with mosaics a vast number
of churches. The patriotism of the Sicilians is not satisfied with
the assertions of some historians, that the mosaics of Cefalu,
Palermo, and Monreale were executed by artists from Greece or
Constantinople. They labour to prove, without much success,
that, as Greek elements had always existed and necessarily sur
vived the Saracen dominion in the island, the Christians who had
lived, nay, laboured, under the tolerant laws of the Moslems, only
revived an art which had previously existed in Sicily. Their
opponents, on the other hand, are equally puzzled to discover or
to prove whence the artists of the twelfth century in Sicily derived
their origin. The question is in truth difficult to settle in the
absence of all records, and may be left as a fit and natural food
for argument to the holders of the two extreme opinions. 1 It is
proper, however, to remember that art after a long period of
iconoclasticism was cultivated anew at Constantinople in the ninth
century, and that Italy still possesses in the niello gates of the
cathedral of Arnalfi of the year A.D. 1000, and in the gates of the
cathedral of Salerno of 1099, no contemptible examples of the power
of drawing which the artists of Constantinople still wielded in
the eleventh century. 2 Nor can it be forgotten that between
the coasts of South Italy and those of Greece and the straits, an
active commerce, in which even Pisa took a share, was in existence.
The oldest mosaics of the Norman period in Sicily are those
of the cathedral of Cefalu, an edifice of which the first stone was
laid by Hugo, Archbishop of Messina, in 113L 3 In the apsis an
inscription declares that King Roger caused the mosaics to be
executed in the year 1148.
The only parts of these that now remain are in the semidome,
apsis, and sanctuary, in the first of which a colossal bust of the Saviour
1 See DOMENICO Lo FASO PIETBASANTA'S Duomi di Monreale (fol. Palermo,
1838), p. 18.
2 Similar gates were sent from Constantinople to Pope Gregory VII. at
Rome in 1070, which were placed in the church of S. Paolo fuori le Mura.
These perished in the fire of last century.
3 Praai, Ecc. Mess., p. 389, in Lo FASO, ubi sup., p. 75.
SICULO-NORMAN ART 59
was represented in glory and benediction between four angels holding
the labarum, and medallions of Melchizedek, Hosea, and Moses (the
latter now destroyed) on a level with Him in the side walls of the
sanctuary. In a second course in the apsis and sanctuary the twelve
apostles were placed, in a third the Virgin in the centre with the
prophets Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, and lower down, a double row of
prophets, elders, and saints. 1 In these mosaics, a far higher class of
art than the Roman of the period was to be distinguished. The
space was well distributed, and the apostles by no means displayed
that absence of design or of form to which previous centuries had been
accustomed. The draperies were good, and recalled by a certain
breadth and elegance older and more classic times ; although in the
vestments of some angels, their close fit and lozenge or square-shaped
ornaments of gold still displayed an oriental taste. The features of
the apostles were of traditional types, those of the tall angels whose
hair, bound by ribands, flowed down their necks, were quiet, plump
and round, and though Byzantine in the depression of the nose, less
than usually unpleasant in gaze.
The Saviour was dressed in a purple tunic shot with gold, and a
blue mantle draping the left arm and shoulder in angular and in
volved folds, the mass of which seemed to impede rather than assist
the development of the form. The head, though apparently that of
an ascetic thin, bony and of sharp features, was surrounded by
very heavy masses of hair overlapping each other, hanging in a suc
cession of curves on the shoulders, and with the now usual double
forelock on the wrinkled forehead. The brows were regularly and
naturally arched, and the eyes without gaze. The nose was thin and
long, the mouth small. A regular beard covered the lips, cheeks, and
lower part of the chin. The bare neck, muscularly developed, was
not without evident defects of anatomical form. Fine and even
majestic as this figure certainly was, it appeared inferior to those of
the apostles below it; and it seems characteristic of the artists of
this time that, in the eflort to create a Christian type whose features
should not be reminiscent of the antique, they produced nothing that
indicated a creative spirit. They imagined the Saviour lean from
abstinence, but by no means of ideal form. They might thus satisfy
the simple tastes of little cultivated minds, but the struggle for a new
type was still left undecided. The Christian artists had started with
imitations of the antique, which time altered, and at last disposed
of. To reach ideal form again, not the inventive genius of an artist
was required, but a return to the study of the purest classical models.
This it was that led to the revival of art in the thirteenth century.
That the mosaics of Cefah\ were the labour of more than one
1 Originally SS. Peter, Vincent, Lawrence, Stephen, Gregory, Augustin,
Sylvester, Dionysius, Abraham, David, Solomon, Jonas, Micah, Naomi,
SS. Theodore, George, Demetrius, Nestor, Nicolas, Basil, Chrysostom, Gregory
and Theodosius. Some of these have perished.
60 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
hand is evident from the superiority of those parts "which are
nearest the spectator, over others that are more distant. In all
of them, however, the drawing was precise and careful, and dis
played no longer the coarseness or darkness of line which so dis
agreeably marked earlier works. The forms of the figures, as is
proved by the red outlines on the binding substance, were perfectly
made out previous to the laying of the cubes ; and the damaged
state of some parts is thus of advantage to the student, as it
reveals the process of the work. True harmony of tones and a
correct appreciation of the laws of distance, a fair knowledge of
relief and a proper subordination of fine ornaments to the pictures,
must also be conceded to the artists of Cefalu. In the flesh lights
nature was closely imitated. In the shadows verde prevailed. As
a final characteristic, it might be noticed that the mosaists had
become technically perfect in the close jointing of the cubes. 1
Contemporary with the Cefalu mosaics but inferior to them,
either because originally entrusted to inferior hands, or because
restoring has impaired their beauty, are those of the Palatine
Chapel at Palermo, built in 1132 2 by Roger King of Sicily, and
consecrated in 1140. 3
The mosaics finished after the consecration, partly in 1143, 4 and
partly later, filled the sanctuary, the cupola of the transept, and the
walls of the nave and aisles. Scenes from the life of S. Peter and
S. Paul in the side aisles, figures of saints or prophets above the arches
of the nave and in the left transept, 5 rivalled the most perfect ones
of Cefalu. The Saviour in benediction between SS. Peter and Paul,
above the marble throne at the bottom of the nave, was less perfect
1 The backgrounds of these apsis mosaics are grey. Many of the out
lines are reinforced with colour, and evidently by the original mosaists.
2 Pram, Tab. Reg. cap. Palat. in Lo FASO, uU sup., p. 74.
3 The completion of the building in this year is proved by the following
mutilated record cited from the archives of Palermo by Abate Buscemi in
Gwrnale Ecc., p. la'Sicilia, vol. i.
IIII K. Ma. . . . odem die dedi-
tio ecc S. Petri
pellse Regise
panormitanse
acta fuit tempore
oriosi et mani
regis Rogerii
nno dominice
ncaraationis MCXL.
The church was consecrated on the day of its completion, Ibid.
4 *An inscription in the cupola proves that some of the mosaics were
finished in that year. See Lo FASO, ubi sup., p. 27.
6 SS. Gregory, Sergius, Basil, John the Isaurian, and another.
SICULO-NORMAN ART 61
in type and form, and betrayed a later and feebler art. The same
might be said of the Saviour and angels in the cupola. 1
Rich ornaments of animals and foliage on gold ground, of the
same period adorned one of the rooms of the palace of Palermo.
Nor was the splendour of the first King of Sicily and his taste for
ornamenting churches confined to him alone. The great admiral
Georgio Antiocheno ordered the church of S. Maria dell' Ammiraglio,
now la Martorana, to be erected at Palermo. The edifice was
consecrated in 1113, finished and endowed by King Roger in 1143, 2
and adorned with mosaics, which have been severely injured by
time and restorers.
An elegant and majestic half figure of S. Anna holding a palm,
of regular proportion and features, is well preserved in the lateral apsis
of the right transept. A composition of the Death of the Virgin may
be seen above one of the arches of the cupola in which the body lies
on the tomb surrounded by the Maries, angels, and apostles, one of
whom bends over the breast of the recumbent figure to listen for the
beating of the heart. This and figures of saints and angels in various
parts of the edifice are fully equal to the finest of the mosaics of
Cefalu. The Birth of the Virgin above one of the arches of the cupola,
is on the contrary inferior in every sense. The cupola itself is too
dark to allow the spectator to see the mosaics with which it is covered. 3
The cathedral of Monreale, built in the twelfth century, entirely
on the model of the Greek ones of Constantinople and Ravenna
of the sixth, was the most imposing in Sicily for the extent of
its mosaic ornaments, yet below the cathedral of Cefalu and the
churches of Palermo in the artistic value of these works. A bull
of Alexander III. proves that it was not yet finished in 1174,
whilst a bull of Lucius III. testifies to its completion in 1182.
The mosaics were intended to illustrate first those portions of the
Old Testament which prefigurate the coming of the Messiah ; secondly
the life of the Saviour to the descent of the Holy Spirit; and finally
the glory of the Redeemer and the triumph of the Church. The bust
of the Saviour of colossal stature, and of a type and form inferior to
that of Cefalu, with features of a heavy character far from regular
1 These mosaics have been damaged by many successive repairs. The
mosaics of the tribune and apsis .are modern.
2 MORSO : Palermo Antica, gives the original diplomas, which are copied
in Lo FASO, ub. sup., p. 86.
3 The merits of the artists of this church may be understood from solitary
figures or parts, the mosaics generally having been restored and renewed at
various times.
62 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
or animated was represented in the semidome of the apsis; 1 and
beneath, He was depicted again at full length enthroned by the side
of the Virgin between the archangels and the twelve apostles. The
spaces over the arch, dividing the sanctuary from the minor tribune,
were adorned with figures of twelve prophets. An arch, leading from
the minor tribune into the transept, was reserved for a half figure of
Emmanuel with eight medallions of prophets on each side. On the
opposite face of the arch was the Annunciation. The transepts were
filled with double courses of mosaics representing scenes from the
New Testament, the archivaults of the solia or quadrangle in the centre
of the church with medallions of the progenitors of the Saviour accord
ing to the genealogy of S. Matthew. An arch which divided the solia
from the nave was adorned with S, Sofia, or the Wisdom of God,
adored by the archangels Michael and Gabriel. Two courses of
mosaics in the nave illustrated the scenes of the Old Testament. The
walls of the side aisles were filled with scenes from the New Testa
ment subordinate to those in the transept, and the apsis of each aisle
contained scenes of the life of S, Peter and S. Paul.
Amongst the transept mosaics, those which represented the
story of the Passion were not essentially different from the
traditional ones which had now been frequently depicted, and
which were afterwards to cover the walls of the nave in the 'Upper
Church of S. Francesco at Assisi. The compositions were animated ;
and it was remarkable in some of them, as for instance in that
of the Resurrection, to find in the forms of the sleeping sentinels
bold and even foreshortened movements. In the Crucifixion, how
ever, the form of the Saviour was conceived differently by the
mosaists of Monreale and by older artists ; and here the hanging
belly and distorted frame, the bent and doleful head accused the
progress of materialism in art. Yet the habit of nailing the feet
separately to the cross had not been abandoned, and as a study
of muscular anatomy the figure was not imperfect, as it after
wards became. In the corner of the left transept, above a marble
throne, the Saviour was depicted imposing the crown on the head
of William II. This and a solitary figure of S. John, removed
from the old baptistery near the right transept to a niche in the
right aisle, were amongst the most careful and best mosaics in
the edifice. In general, however, the forms and features of the
apostles and saints were no longer equal to those of Cefalu, and a
certain stiffness or contortion of attitudes might be noticed ; the
eyes had become more open and gazing, the draperies more straight
1 The originality of the head of the Saviour in the apsis of Monreale
may be doubted.
SICULO-NORMAN AET 63
and angular. Nor were the harmonies of colour preserved in their
purity ; and greyish-red shadows with lines of a broader and
more cutting character marked the decline of art in Sicily. Ere
long, and hardly a century later, the mosaists produced examples
at Messina which were not superior to those of the eleventh century
at Capua. 1
On the Italian continent, as for instance at Salerno, the influ
ence of the Sicilian mosaists was felt. But the mosaics of the
cathedral 2 are so damaged that they defy all criticism. A solitary
half figure of S. Matthew, in a door lunette, is, however, not without
character, and makes a near approach to the better productions
of Sicily. Two pulpits in the same cathedral, where architecture
and mosaic ornament are judiciously combined, prove that the art
at the extreme of South Italy was not more defective than in
other parts of the peninsula. These pulpits were ordered at the
close of the thirteenth century by John of Procida ; and one of
them is adorned at the angles with figures of the Evangelists, one
of which, S. Matthew holding the serpent as the emblem of
wisdom, is by no means a contemptible example of the art of
the time.
At the opposite extremity of the Peninsula, but still connected
with the East by its trade and commercial navy, Venice shared
with Sicily the labours of Greek mosaists. It would be vain, if
not foreign to the object of this work, minutely to seek from the
midst of mosaics such as those of S. Mark, parts that may have
been produced by artists of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
There is no doubt that the cupolas of the vestibule are adorned
with compositions from the Old Testament which have a character
akin to those of Sicily ; but these, like most of the mosaics of
this cathedral, have been subjected to centuries of restoration ;
and it is safe only to assume that at Venice, as in Sicily, mosaists
1 These examples adorned the three apsides of the cathedral of Messina.
In the central one, less defective than the two others, yet much damaged,
Eleanor- wife of Frederic of Aragon, and Elizabeth, Queen of Peter of Aragon,
were represented kneeling at each side of a throne on which the Saviour
and the Virgin sat together, guarded by angels and female saints. The apsis
to the right was devoted to King Louis of Anjou and John, Duke of Athens,
placed on each side of S. John the Baptist and supported by saints. The
apsis to the left was honoured with the kneeling figures of King Frederic
and King Peter, with Guido, Bishop of Messina^ saints and angels, all beneath
a very defective figure of the Saviour in glory. The first of these apsis
mosaics was remarkable for long draperies of intricate fold, for ill-drawn
figures, yet less defective than those in the semidomes at the sides, where
disproportion of form and rudeness of design were combined.
2 This cathedral was founded by Bobert Guiscard in 1084.
64 HISTOKY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
of Byzantine education were employed, perhaps as early as the
eleventh century. 1
The Greek art of this period, such as it appears in miniatures,
exhibits the characteristics which are found in the Sicilian mosaics ;
and those who may desire to learn something of them may read
the following excerpt :
Amongst the sixty illuminated drawings of a Greek " Menologio "
preserved at the Vatican library, 2 the art of Cefalu seems reproduced. 3
The Saviour in glory surrounded by the apostles exhibits the type
and slender form noble head and dignified movement the apostles
the long lean shape, but stern and characteristic heads of the Siculo-
Norman period. In succeeding miniatures, symmetrical and well-
distributed compositions may be found, and that of the Birth of the
Virgin is marked by the well-known classical attitude of S. Anna on
the bed, whilst females are busy preparing the bath for the infant.
An Adoration of the Shepherds is likewise remarkable for the typical
form and arrangement repeated by the painters of the Upper Church
of Assisi, by Cavallini in S. Maria in Trastevere of Borne, and the
school of Siena, so remarkable for the tenacity with which, it main
tained the habits of earlier times. In some overweight of head, square
sculptural character of drapery, and defective extremities, the Greek
miniaturists here shared the peculiarities of their countrymen the
mosaists ; and even the occasional violence of action remarkable at
times in the latter can be noticed in the martyrdom of a saint torn
by a Hon. In the Crucifixion of S. Peter and another saint, 4 the nude
is rendered with a certain vigour if not without conventionalism. In
the Baptism of Christ, S. John places his hand on the head of the
Saviour, whilst three angels attend on the opposite side. Precise
outlines and accurately defined forms a lively, clear, and tolerably
fused colour of some impasto, the technical mode of painting flesh
tints over a general tone of verde, mark the whole of the miniatures. 5
In continuation of these, the miniatures of the Climacchus of the
eleventh or twelfth century, also in the Vatican library, 6 exhibit the
same technical execution, careful and minute drawing together with
slenderness of shape. But a weaker art may be noticed in the loose
attitude, the affrighted glance, and the confused drapery. The first
miniature of the series, representing the elect advancing under the
guard of angels up the steps of Paradise, on the top of which the
Saviour sits in glory, gives a fair idea of the manner of the artist.
1 [For all concerning the S. Marco mosaics, see SACCAEDO, Lea Moaa'Cques
de St. Marc d Venice (Venice, 1907) ; and TIKKANEN, I Musaici dell' Atrio
di S. Marco a Venezia e la BibUa Cottoniana in Arch. St. delV Arte (Home
1888), vol. i.j *
2 No. 1613.
3 The miniature may be of older date than the mosaics of Cefalti
* Pp. 296 and 427.
5 On gold ground ; the cheeks and lips tinged with red. 6 N o . 394
ROMAN MINIATURES 65
In the meanwhile art at Rome, unmoved by the Byzantine
influence on each side of it, maintained its old individuality ; and
whilst in painting it produced works of which few examples remain
to our time, it resumed the practice of mosaics which had been
interrupted during the very darkest age. Amongst the wall
paintings whose value can hardly be discerned because of age
and repairs, the following may be still observed: first, a Cruci
fixion of the twelfth century in the Cappella del Martirologio
annexed to the church of S. Paolo fuori le Mura ; * besides
numerous figures on the walls and ceiling ; 2 secondly, the Com
munion and Coronation of Peter de Courtenay, and biblical episodes
in the porch of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura at Rome ; thirdly, scenes
of the life of S. Lawrence in the body of the same church. 3 All
these paintings are interesting notwithstanding the state to which
they have been reduced, because they are of the same school and
manner, because in composition, distribution, and a certain anima
tion of movements they now and then recall the antique, and
because they are free from the exaggerated action which had
already begun to mark the decline of a different art, the purer
Greek or Byzantine. In order, at the same time, that it may be
unnecessary to revert to the subject of Roman miniatures, we may
bestow a passing glance on certain MSS., in which subjects taken
from the Gospel are disposed by the miniaturists in forms which
become afterwards typical, and which in some schools were main
tained with more or less fidelity till the rise of the fourteenth
century.
In continuation of Minif ' f es : a MS. volume at the Minerva
opening witli the " Benedicvs^^ontis," a series of scenes from tlie
Passion may be noticed. They are rudely drawn with very marked
outlines, and some of the figures are very short and ugly, and pre
sented with little more art than those upon playing cards. Techni
cally, they are coloured with body upon a preparation of verde, with
red patches on the cheeks. In one of them the Saviour, a long thin
1 The Saviour is represented, as before, open-eyed and erect, the arms
a little bent, and the feet separately nailed to the wood. His proportions
are good. Above the cross, the sun and moon and two busts of angels.
Right and left of the cross are the Virgin and S. John, and at their sides
a mounted soldier with helm and lance. The long and slender figures
resemble those at S. Urbano.
2 Apostles Peter and Paul, SS. Stephen, Lawrence, and other saints, and
in the ceilings the symbols of the Evangelists. All these paintings may be
assigned to the end of the twelfth century.
3 These paintings were commissioned by Honorius HI., and are jjrobably
of the year 1217. The figures are small, long and thin, the draperies good
in intention. The flesh tints are prepared in verde.
66 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
wooden figure, seems to have forced and to tread upon the gates of
hell. He holds out a helping hand to a hoary sufferer (probably
Adam), who thus emerges from limbo. Behind Him is a crowd of
persons. In a second, the Saviour, crucified and with the feet nailed
separately to the cross, still stands erect and with open eyes. On
each side of the cross are the Virgin and S. John the Evangelist ; and
above it the sun and the moon. Again the Creation is symbolised
by a female figure giving the breast to two monstrous animals ; light
on one side being conveyed trivially by the emblem of the candle
stick, and darkness by a mourning female. In the upper part of the
miniature the Saviour sits in glory and the hand of the Eternal
appears out of a cloud. 1 Scenes from the Passion, equally realistic
in character and equally rude in execution, may be seen in a Bible
at S. Paolo fuori le Mura. Similar defects of drawing, but a different
technical execution, appear in a poem at the Vatican written by one
Dionisio in praise of the Princess Matilda of Tuscany. 2 The most
interesting miniatures for typical composition are, however, an Exultet
of the close of the twelfth century at the Barberini palace at Rome.
On the first page a priest (levita) in a pulpit, reads the hymn for the
benediction of the paschal taper, which is placed on a candelabra behind
a group of clergy, some of whom wave censers. In the rear stands
the congregation. On the third page the " Noli me tangere " is de
picted. The Saviour turns in abrupt and violent movement towards
the Magdalen kneeling with outstretched hands. Further on, the
Earth is emblematically represented as a naked female giving the
breast to an ox and a serpent on a flowery meadow in which the trees
of good and evil are growing. Elsewhere Adam with his left hand on
his breast takes from a serpent, whose body is twined round Eve's
legs, the forbidden fruit and eats at the same time an apple which Eve
presents to him.
In a " Christ at the Limbo " which follows, the Saviour holds the
cross in His right hand and treads on the form of Lucifer, the com
position otherwise being a repetition of that already described. In
an ornament above the scene, a half figure of the Eternal (here for the
first time depicted) points to the Saviour in the limbo with a vehement
action, and seems to say " Ecce Agnus Dei."
A pope with a triangular tiara a bishop and a monk at his sides
a figure gathering honey in an orchard, where bees of gigantic pro
portions may be seen in flight, complete the whole of what is note
worthy in these miniatures. If these productions are less defective
1 This miniature is very much damaged. The MS. is probably of the close
of the twelfth century,
3 MSS. No. 4922, Vatican library. The miniatures are outlined mth a
pen and the flesh tone lightly tinted in transparent yellow. The cheeks
of the figures are touched with red. The colours, are sharply contrasted and
shadowless as in playing cards. Here and there are touches of body-colour
duo to restorers. This MS. is likewise of the close of the twelfth century.
Millin, in RITMOHR, mentions a copy of this work (Forschungen, vol. i., p. 242).
THE DECLINE AT ROME 67
than others of the same period, 1 and if a certain regularity may be
noticed in the forms, still art may be said to remain very low. The
heads and eyes are round, the cheeks rouged, the outlines red-and-
black fillets. The flesh tints are yellow, the draperies coloured in
sharply contrasted tones, lined out without shadow. The nude is
most defective and ugly, the colour without body and thinly laid on
a white ground. 2
When mosaics were resumed at Rome in the early part of
the fourteenth century, they were more remarkable for luxury of
ornamentation than for any great improvement in arrangement
or form.
The apsis of the church of 8. Francesca Romana, one of the
earliest that can be assigned to the twelfth century, was still devotee!
to one of those formal scenes which have been so frequently described.
The Virgin and Child stood in the midst of saints under arches, and a
lavish display of triangular crowns, gilt draperies and backgrounds,
a wonderful profusion of gay colours in dresses and a large fan-like
ornament, seemed intended to conceal the excessive immobility and
defective forms of the figures. 3
Gay colour, ornament, and perhaps better proportions, marked
a later mosaic of the twelfth century representing the Virgin and
Child between the seven wise and the seven foolish Virgins, 4 on
the front of the clmrch of S. Maria in Trastevere. The Virgin
and Saviour, enthroned together in the apsis of the church, were
remarkable for similar qualities and defects.
The Saviour, of larger size than the Virgin, the Virgin herself with a
splendid crown and gilt draperies, the richly coloured fan ornament,
the twining branches and foliage in which birds seem to twitter, the
figures of saints on the tribune, short, thickset, and lame in attitude,
all exhibited Roman art at this time as almost reduced to mere
decoration. 5
1 For instance, the poem in praise of the Princess Matilda.
2 RTTMOHR (Forschungen, vol. L, p. 245) judges from the form of the
writing that the MS. is of the eleventh or twelfth century.
3 The Virgin and Child are supported on each side by SS. James and
John on the left, SS. Peter and Andrew on the right. The whole mosaic
has been excessively restored, but was originally of the rudest execution.
The best preserved figure, which is that of S. Andrew, is of better form, how
ever, than the figures in S. Marco. The Virgin wears a triangular crown
similar to those of the miniatures in the Barberini Exultet. Her close dress
is full of gilding and imitations of jewellery. The use of red and black in
the flesh tints is less frequent than in S. Marco, but they are of a flat and
unrelieved yellowish tone. The figure of the Saviour is long, lean, and ugly.
4 [There are only ten virgins in all, and, as it seems, they are unequally
divided between wisdom and folly.]
5 On each side of the throne SS. Callixtus, Lawrence, and Innocent II.
(1139), S. Peter, the Popes Cornelius and Julius, and the presbyter Calipodius.
68 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
The decorative principle was applied with still more exclusive-
ness to the apsis of S. Clemente.
In the midst of rich vine tendrils, the Saviour was represented
crucified, with twelve doves about the head, the Virgin and 8. John
Evangelist at the base of the cross. Pour Fathers of the Church,
shepherds, goats, birds were scattered about the ornament, below
which the four streams of Paradise, the Lamb, and the two cities
were placed. On the arch of the tribune Isaiah, S. Lawrence with
the gridiron, S. Paul under the form of a pilot, S. Peter, and a sym
bolical figure with an anchor; in the upper centre, the Saviour and
the symbols of the four Evangelists, completed the mosaic. The
attitude of the Saviour on the cross, the closed eyes, betrayed the
progress of a new religious idea in reference to the pictorial delineation
of the Redeemer. The figures were less defective than at S. Maria
in Trastevere, but the draperies were still stiff and angular, and it was
evident that, if art was progressing, it was advancing less in the
essentials than in the accessories of detail, ornament, and rich dis
tribution of colour.
With the close of the twelfth century a wide field is opened
to the student of art in Italy. Examples accumulate ; and, were
it absolutely necessary to follow chronological order, the reader
would be carried, by the natural succession of time, from North to
South and from East to West, to contemplate works having no
other connection than that of date. Leaving aside certain rude
frescoes of the twelfth century at Spoleto, in the church of S. Paolo
fuori di Porta Romana, whose merits, or rather defects, may well
be left to the humble compass of a note ; 1 setting aside a certain
number of early Crucifixes executed in various parts of Italy, it
may be of greater advantage for the present to continue the
Below the throne, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the twelve sheep, and four rivers
on a blue ground. On the arch of the tribune, Isaiah and Jeremiah, above
them children, vases and flowers. On each side a tree and the symbols of
the Evangelists. Above the centre the cross and seven candlesticks.
1 These frescoes, executed on one intonaco like those of Nepi and S.
Angelo in Formis, are to be found in that part of the old church of S. Paolo
which is above the false roof. There, one may see remnants of paintings
representing scenes of the Old Testament, the creation of Eve and the ex
pulsion from Paradise a head of the Saviour and figures of prophets. The
rude drawing and broad outlines of these frescoes indicate a feeble artist,
but the shapes of the heads and the repose in the glance of the eyes, certain
forms that recall those in the Barberini Exultet, proclaim an Itab'an painter
of the twelfth century* Of the same period is a mosaic above the portico
of the cathedral of Spoleto representing the Saviour enthroned in benedic
tion with a book in His left hand, the Virgin and S. John at His sides,
almost entirely renewed. The work is interesting only for the following
inscription " HEO EST PICTUHA QTJAM FECIT SAT PLAGIUEA : DOCTOK SOLSERNTJS
HAG STTMMUS IN ABTE, MODEEKTJS, ASTNTS INVENTIS CUM SEPTEM MILLE
DUGENTIS. OPEBAKE PALMEEI D. SASO. . . ."
THE DECLINE AT ROME 69
narrative of art in Rome, and to trace the slight influence which
the later Byzantine art, as it appears in Sicily, exercised in the
capital of Italy.
The semidome mosaic of S. Paolo fuori le Mura is but a repetition
of the old subject of the Saviour between a double row of saints, and
adored by a small kneeling figure of Pope Honorius III. In the lower
course of the apsis, two angels and twelve apostles stand stiff and
motionless in a row, separated from each other by palms, on each side
of an altar, bearing a cross. The figures are remarkable for careful
execution, a fair definition of light and shadow, a fine and accurate
outline, and perfectly jointed cubes of mosaic. The head of the
Saviour, of colossal dimensions, is modern, and the body a lay figure ;
but amongst the apostles, S. John is of fair character, and the rest
hardly inferior to similar ones at Monreale. The forms in general,
however, are disagreeable, the eyes of the angels and others are round
and gazing, the noses depressed as at S. Angelo in Formis, the shadows
of flesh tints are green, the lights streaked with white, the hair mapped
out in masses defined by lines. 1 This purely Byzantine method,
which may be seen in three heads, saved from the mosaics of the front
after the fire of 1823, 2 would prove that the whole of this church was
adorned with mosaics by Greeks. 3
Paintings of similar character, but very defective in form and
dull in colour, may be seen in the chapel of S. Sylvestro near the
church of SS. Quattro Coronati.
They represent the Saviour holding the cross, enthroned with
the Virgin and S. John the Baptist at His sides, and the twelve
apostles, sitting upon each other on each hand, a most unpleasant
and common product of the Byzantine art of the twelfth century. 4
1 These mosaics are greatly restored, but in general the careful Byzantine
execution may still be traced.
2 Near the sacristy of S. Paolo and executed with all the care and
mastery of those of Cefalu. The cubes are closely packed, the flesh part
well defined, and expressing the forms, the features, and wrinkles marked
by fine hair outlines, the ears large and defective, the lights clear yellow and
shadows grey, the lips bright.
3 A much restored mosaic of the same class, but very unpleasant, and re
presenting formless figures of small size, is a Christ between the Virgin and
other female saints, S. Lawrence, and Honorius III., in the porch of S.
Lorenzo fuori le Mura at Rome.
* According to Agincourt these paintings bore the date 1248, which is
now obliterated. Art could scarcely fall lower than it is here exhibited.
The Saviour's head is of a circular shape without drawing, the frame ill
designed, and feet enormous. Muscular developments are indicated by false
lines. The figures are stiff, striding, or flat, the colour dull and without
' transparence. PASSIGLI in Dizionario, vol. iv., p. 527, mentions Pietro
Lino " pictor " and his assistant Guido Guiduccio as having painted in
SS. Quattro Coronati in the twelfth century (1110-1120).
70 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
The list of works of this period in Rome may be swelled by a
notice of the paintings on the tomb of Cardinal Guglielino Eieschi,
in the church of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura, 1 the motionless figures
in both of which are long, thin, and without drawing. Yet the
form of the Saviour's head in the first is more regular and less
defective than those in contemporary productions at Rome or in
the neighbouring Benedictine foundation of Subiaco the Sacro
Speco.
It would be needless to seek in this old and remarkable abbey
for paintings of the time of S. Benedict.
In the so-called Seconda Grotta di S. Benedetto, however, one of the
natural caves which tradition assigns as a residence to the holy man,
a Virgin and Child of warm tones, marked outlines, and large staring
eyes, is painted on the bare rock, and reveals the technical execution
of the artists of Rome at the close of the eighth and rise of the ninth
centuries. A figure of the Saviour guarded by two angels, and a
painting said to represent S. Benedict, much damaged and in great
part repainted, outside the cave, betray the rude manner of the
twelfth century. Equally poor and of the same period are the paint
ings on the entrance wall of the Sala di S. Benedetto in the lower part
of the Sacro Speco itself, to the left of which a vaulted niche contains
a Virgin, Child, and Angels, inscribed " Magister Conxolus pixit hoc
>" 2 whilst to the right, Innocent III. gives a papal bull to John IV.,
Abbot of the Sacro Speco. The green shadows, yellow flesh, lights,
and bright red patches on the cheeks and lips are of the Roman
character of the thirteenth century. 3 The triple vaulted ceiling of
the Sala is of the same century, and possibly of an earlier time than
that of Conxolus. A lamb in the centre of the first carries a cross
and is surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists with human
bodies, and the heads of an angel, an ox, an eagle, and a lion. 4 The
1 Cardinal Fieschi (William) was appointed by Innocent IV. and died
at Rome in 1256. He was buried in S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura (Dizionario
di Erudizione Storico JSccles., vol. xxiv.). On each side of the Saviour in the
act of benediction S. Lawrence recommends a small kneeling figure of Pope
Innocent IV. behind whom stand SS. Hippolytus and Stephen introducing
the kneeling figure of Cardinal Fieschi, the pope's nephew, behind whom
stands S. Gustavus. To the right, on a neighbouring wall, is a Virgin and
Child in which the defects common to the thirteenth century are exhibited.
2 A picture on panel representing S. Benedict in his cave receiving food
from S. Bomanus, with compartments in which scenes of S. Benedict's life
are depicted, is in the abbey of Subiaco and assigned to Conxolus ; but it
is now totally repainted.
3 History records the date of this bull, which is of June 24, 1213, but does
not vouch for the date of Conxolus* existence. John VI. died in 1217. The
painting is in part rubbe'd away and the figure of Innocent repainted.
4 Here also the colour is sombre, the outlines marked. In the angel,
the flesh tones are yellowish, the shadows green. The form of the latter
figure is slender, but it has been altered by retouching.
SUBIACO 71
second represents S. Benedict with saints in the circumjacent space,
one of whom only, S. Lawrence, is not modernised. 1 The third is
devoted to the Saviour (centre) with 88. Peter, Paul, John, Andrew,
and four angels bearing sceptres. The chapel of S. Gregorio, in
another part of the Sacro Speco, is enlivened by a representation
which, according to an inscription on the wall, is the consecration by
Gregory IX. (1227-1241) of two holy personages who stand by,
whilst an angel hovering over them seems to address a figure which,
from the name on the wall, is the monk Odo. All these paintings,
with the exception of the Virgin and Child in the cave of S. Benedict,
may be assigned to the close of the twelfth and rise of the thirteenth
centuries, a ^ time in which Roman and Byzantine character were
confounded in a common degeneracy. They must not be mistaken
for paintings of a later date, such as those in the Cappella della Vergine,
a S. Gregory dated 1479 by a feeble Italian painter, or for works
attributable to " Stammatico Greco pictor. p." whose name is written
high up on a pilaster opposite the Scala Santa. Of these paintings,
scenes of the Passion and of the life of S. Benedict and his disciples,
which may be seen in two vast compositions on the walls and ceilings
after entering the church, the Baptism and allegories on the Scala
Santa itself possibly betray, by peculiar forms of composition and
a third-rate talent, the work of a Greek of the fourteenth century.
Nor would it have been necessary to mention these further, were it
not desirable to reduce to their just and humble value productions
which have recently been placed on a level with those of Cimabue
and Giotto. 2
The Sacro Speco was visited in 1216 by S. Francis, whose self-
imposed mendicancy and miracles were at a later period to be
illustrated by the greatest painters of Italy. There an attempt
was made, apparently by some of the artists employed in the
abbey, to paint his portrait on the wall of the chapel in which
1 SS. Sylvester, Peter the Deacon, Gregory, Romanus, Maurus, Onoratus,*
Placidus are repainted.
2 See a volume published at Rome in 1855, entitled Imagerie du Sacro
Speco, giving illustrations of the paintings in that edifice with a text. It is
pleasing to see old works illustrated and commented. It is folly, however,
to try and pass third- for first-rate painters. The writer affirms of Conxolus
that he departed from the Byzantine manner before Cimabue, and deserves
the more credit. He- forgets that Byzantine art was not extended generally
to all Italy, and that Conxolus, in common with many painters, followed old
methods, whereas Cimabue commenced the reform of Italian art by setting
these aside, in a certain measure, or improving them. Stammatico, he
compares with Giotto, yet it is evident that this painter laboured after the
death of the great Florentine, and has no excuse for being a third-rate
painter except the poverty of genius. Again certain paintings in a parlour
of the Sacro Speco, which are in the manner of such second-rate artists of
the Umbrian school, as Tiberio d' Assist or Melanzio, are described as the
forerunners of Raphael who led the first footsteps of the art of the Revival.
Such nonsense deserves and ought to receive the reproof of criticism.
72 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
the consecration of Gregory the Great was afterwards represented.
Certain it is that on a wall to the right of the entrance to the chapel,
stands a life-size figure of a youthful friar in a high conical cowl,
the frock and cord of a mendicant, inscribed with the words
"FR. FRACISCU." Partially restored and retouched, the head may
still attract attention by its character. Though lean from abstin
ence, the features are regular, the brow open, the eyes large, and
the nose straight. The tonsure is visible across the forehead and
along the temples to the ears, which are not remarkable for small-
ness. A straggling beard, and a downy upper lip complete a far
more pleasing portrait of brother Francis than those which in
hundreds, at a later time, were placed in every monastery and
convent of the Order. A miniature kneeling figure of a donor at
the monk's feet seems to have been added at a later time. It is
remarkable that Francis is depicted without the Stigmata, and if
it be, as is pretended, a genuine portrait, it must have been executed,
if not in 1216, at least before 1228, when the friar was canonised,
and perhaps by one who had seen and conversed with him. If
considered as a work of art, it differs in no wise from other early
pictures in the Sacro Speco. 1 The pious world, however, seems to
have cared little for the reality of the portraits of the founder of
the Franciscan Order ; and in the earliest pictures of him at Assisi
and elsewhere, it seemed rather the painter's aim to symbolise
asceticism than to reproduce the true features of the saint. It
was not till the end of the century that S. Francis became a type,
and then it had lost all claim to the name of likeness. In the
chapel contiguous to the sacristy of the Convent degli Angeli at
Assisi, the standing figure of the saint is painted about half the
size of life on the wood of his own pallet, and the fact is vouched
for by the following inscription " Hie michi lectus fuit et morienti." 2
These words are written on a book in S. Francis' hand, whilst on
the lower border of a carpet which forms the background of the
panel, another inscription refers to the impress of the Stigmata.
A gold arabesque nimbus surrounds the bare head, a cross in the
right hand and an angel on each side with the reed and host
1 Tliis portrait of Francis, without nimbus, and executed before he re
ceived the Stigmata, has been, recently restored ; and parts, where the colour
had entirely fallen off, renewed. The background is all repainted.
2 [The inscription runs "me MIOHI VIVEJSTTI LECTUS FUIT ET MOBIENTI."
The picture is possibly by Giunta Pisano. Cf. VENTUBI, op. cit., vol. v.,
p. 98. See also on this subject Prof. Luiai CAKATTOLI, Di una Tavola della
Primitive* Cassa Mortvaria di S. Francesco in Miscellanea Francescana (Foligno,
1901), vol. i., pp. 46-58, and note 1, p. 73, infra.]
S, FRANCIS
From the wall painting at the Sacro Speco, Sublaco.
S. FRANCIS 73
complete the picture. S. Francis is here a round-headed man with
a contracted brow, small eyes, a long thin nose, and a mouth
indicated by three straight lines. In another portrait in the sacristy
of S. Francesco of Assisi the head is again of a different character,
bony and lean, and the forehead beyond measure high. The large
gazing eyes have a frightened look, and the nose a depression
familiar in late Byzantine works. Many more examples might be
enumerated here, but as these may be noticed at a future time,
when treating of the early schools of Central Italy, they may be
omitted for the present, sufficient proof having been given that
S. Francis in the pictures of the Middle Ages is a symbol and not a
portrait. 1
Whilst the painters at Subiaco thus followed the example of
Eome, those who laboured in the more northern parts of Italy
exhibited in the thirteenth century peculiarities of another kind.
Numerous monuments on a large scale might be mentioned to
prove that painting existed everywhere at a low ebb ; but that in
the centre of the Peninsula, as elsewhere, it was subordinate to
monumental and sculptural decoration. At Parma, in the first
half of the century, painters of no great power adorned the double
octagon of the Baptistery with courses of subjects enclosed within
spaces framed in feigned sculptural ornament and inscribed with
words simulating carving in stone. 2 These painters showed, in
the arrangement of the parts and in their subordination to a general
presiding idea, an unison of harmony which was not without
grandeur, although, taken separately, the figures or groups might
not be entitled to admiration. They represented :
In the upper course of the dome the twelve apostles enthroned
in ribs of ornament radiating towards the centre of the cupola, with
the symbols of tlie Evangelists in the intermediate spaces; in the
second course the Saviour enthroned in the act of benediction, with
the Virgin and S. John the Baptist standing at his sides, 3 and numerous
prophets in niches ; in the third course, scenes from the life of S. John
the Baptist, amongst which one, in particular the Baptism of the
Saviour, was represented in a form which was but an amplification of
1 [There are many of these works up and down Tuscany and Umbria,
e.g. a remarkable picture at Pisa in a locked room of the Museo Civico. They
seem to be rather eikons than portraits; c/. BONGHI, Francesco di Assisi
(Citta di Castello, Lapi, 1884), pp. 103-113, and ANGELINI ROTE, Icotw-
grafia Francesco, in Ordine (Aneona, 1901), Ann. xlii., n. 228.]
2 The Baptistery of Parma was commenced in 1196, and only completed
in 1281.
3 The hair of the figure of the Saviour is repainted, as also the head of
S. John the Baptist, part of the vestments, nimbi, and background.
74 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
that adopted in the catacombs of Borne. The Eedeemer was placed
in the middle of a running stream, S. John on the right bank imposed
a hand on His head, and on the left stood three angels. A miniature
figure at the Saviour's feet held a reed shaped into the form of a cross,
an obscure and curious addition to the scene, yet repeated in a second
Baptism on the wall behind the altar of the Baptistery, 1 Beneath
the balcony of the dome the recesses of the arches were likewise
painted with scenes from the Old and New Testaments ; 2 and amongst
them might be noticed a strange winged figure imperfectly rendering
the monster with four heads and innumerable eyes, the car of fire, and
the symbols of the Evangelists described in the Vision of Ezekiel,
an angel in relief, the six- winged seraphim of Isaiah, and a Franciscan
apparently addressing the latter. 3
Without being free from retouching or in parts from total
renewal, the greater portion of these paintings preserves enough
of original character for a correct definition of their value. If
considered with reference to type, it might be observed that the
Saviour in the cupola, of a feeble frame surmounted by a large
head, was disfigured by the strangest frontal developments forming
curves with the wrinkles of the forehead, and seemed a reminiscence
of Ravenna ; whilst the double forelock on the forehead appeared
as a Roman peculiarity. The round head of the Virgin with its
angular brow, the protuberant root of the nose, the painful expres
sion of the face were but a mixture of old and well-known features.
The broken draperies of the Saviour's dress contrasted with the
more antique and flowing ones of the prophets, just as His feeble
body and large head contrasted with their small faces and square
frames. In these prophets, repose ; in other figures, as in the be
heading of S. John the Baptist, were violent efforts of action which
passed all reasonable bounds. The nude was no better than might
be expected from the period ; and the long, thin figures were not
without the usual anatomical defects and formlessness of extremities.
The execution was rude, the masses of light and shade abrupt,
without semitones. The draperies were painted of an uniform
colour, streaked with white in the lights, with black in the shadows.
Here were the technical methods of Nepi as of S. Angelo in Formis,
the vehemence and exaggeration of the Byzantine, and the weighty
breadth of the Roman. The painters were evidently striving to
1 This Baptism is almost obliterated.
2 Some of these are retouched and others quite modem, as, for instance,
the Visitation.
3 This recess has been much repainted, and the figure of S. Francis with
a nimbus seems to have been added later, as here he is supposed to have
received the Stigmata.
PARMA 75
advance, but without any fixed principles, and falling for that
reason into extremes.
Those who may desire to convince themselves of the low state
in which inferior artists found themselves, even towards the end
of the thirteenth century, may acquire an insight into the common
Italo-Byzantine decay of that time, by examining a picture in
the Museum at Parma inscribed " Melior pinxit A.D. 1271." They
will find in a Saviour in benediction and holding a book, types and
forms of the most repulsive kind, combined with curious gold
ornamentation and nimbuses stuffed with real stones. The colours
which emulate the hues of the snake, are thickly laid on the
outlines heavily marked and defined, and the forms a mere pretence
of anatomy. The Virgin and S. Peter, S. John, and S. Paul at the
sides, of equally hideous character, and placed in round niches
supported on short thick columns, would seem to be Greek, were
the inscriptions to be admitted as proving an origin. Yet no one
will pretend that Melior is the name of a Greek.
In Florence the tribune annexed (A.D. 1200 1 ) to the Baptistery
of S. Giovanni was worked in mosaic by one Jacobus, a friar of
the Order of S. Francis in the year 1225. 2
The mosaic filled the triangular spaces of the vaulted ceiling, the
outer frame and the thickness of the arch leading into the tribune.
In the ceiling the central medallion, enclosing the Lamb holding a
banner, was supported by figures half angel, half caryatide, resting
on vases, at the sides of which were two deer. Each of the inter
mediate spaces contained two figures of prophets, 3 in a fiddle orna
ment, the whole surrounded by a circular framing supported in the
diagonals on the hands of four kneeling figures resting on capitals,
whilst on the prolongation of the diameter sat enthroned S. John
Evangelist and the Virgin and Child. The frame of the entrance
arch was divided by thirteen medallions of the Virgin (centre) and
twelve prophets, the archivault by medallions of the Saviour (centre),
and twelve apostles. Beneath, the capitals at the angles of tlie ceiling,
1 Note 3 to VASASI, Le Vite, &c. (Flor., La Monnier, 1846), vol. i., p. 284.
2 Fra Mariano's chronicle of the Franciscan Order, and Mark of Lisbon,
are the first (annot. to VASARI, life of Tafi, vol. i, p. 291), to affirm that
the mosaist Jacobus, who executed the ornaments of the tribune of the
Baptistery, was a native of Torrita, VASABI (vol. i., p. 284) followed them,
but this opinion is not supported by records and is founded on a superficial
reading of the inscription on the apsis mosaic of S. Gio. in Laterano at Rome.
The mosaist there signs himself Jacobus Torrit. ; and historians have jumped
to a conclusion from the similarity of the Christian name and profession of
Jacobus.
3 Eight in all : Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezeldel, Daniol, Jacob, Isaac,
Abraham, all standing.
76 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
four scrolls bore, each, two lines of an inscription proclaiming the
date and author of the work. 1
These mosaics may be compared with advantage with those of
the adjacent Baptistery executed at a later period by Tuscan
artists. It will be observed that the former are not of the Florentine
but of the Roman school, and of that peculiar style which char
acterised the mosaic pictures of S. Clemente 2 and of S. Maria in
Trastevere. The mosaics of the tribune of S. Giovanni at Florence
were indeed one of the last inspirations of a school based on the
imitation of the antique, which had for centuries been peculiar to
the great capital of the Popes. The system of diagonal ornamenta
tion recalled, though it had not the lightness of, that which in the
first centuries of Christian art had filled the catacombs. A remi
niscence of the antique might be traced in the broad forms of the
prophets about the medalhon of the Lamb, in the movement and
massive draperies of the apostles in the archivault. 3 The Virgin
and S. John, though not exempt from the defects of form and
design noticeable in the apsis of S. Maria in Trastevere and S.
Clemente angularity of contours and coarseness of extremities
were still fairly proportioned. This tribune mosaic was in fact
Italian in its types, and, in its general character, far less Byzantine
than the works of Cimabue. Here was no superabundance of gilt
ornament, no confused arrangement such as that which detracts
from the beauty of some productions of Home ; relief was given
by a judicious mass of grey shadow in the flesh tints ; and soberness
everywhere prevailed. The name of Jacobus the mosaist of
Florence now forces attention back to Rome and to a series of
works in S. Giovanni in Laterano and S. Maria Maggiore.
The mosaic of the semidome in S. Giovanni in Laterano appears from
its arrangement, which resembles that of S. Stefano Rotondo, to have
been an old one, altered and renewed in the pontificate of Nicolas IV.,
A.D. 1290. Beneath a bust of the Saviour, surrounded by a glory of
1 Annas papa tibi nonus currebat Honor!
Ac Federice tuo quintus monarca decori
Viginti quinque Christ! cum rnille Ducentis
Tempora currebant per seeula cuncta manentis
Hoc opus incepit lux Mai tune duodena
Quod Domini nostri conservet gratia plena
Sancti Francisci frater fuit hoc operatus
Jacobus in tali pro cunctis arte probatus.
2 As regards style of figures, not as regards ornamentation.
3 The head of S. John the Baptist in the archivault is lean, the hair
frizzled. Yet the character and type are not Byzantine as in Cimabue.
JACOBUS TORRITI ; 77
angels, a large cross, surmounted by the dove and guarded at the
base by a seraph between two towers, separates two lines of saints.
To the left the Virgin presents the miniature figure of Pope Nicolas IV.,
by whose side is a small S. Francis and taller figures of SS. Peter and
Paul. To the right are S. John the Baptist, a small S. Anthony, S. John
Evangelist, and S. Andrew. Deer and other animals surround the base
of the cross, under which the four streams well out into a river filled
with figures of Cupids in boats. This mosaic is inscribed on the lower
border to the left : " JACOBUS TORRIT . . . PICT. HOC OP. FECIT." A
critical examination of it may possibly clear some disputed points.
The head of the Saviour, far from being of the inelegant form
peculiar to the thirteenth century, has the simple outline of that
in S. Costanza, or the apsis of S. Apollinare in Classe at Ravenna,
with a fine flow of falling hair, a long full beard, and regular features,
and a simple nimbus of one line drawn on the blue background
bedecked with red clouds. It is a type and form which would
have placed Torriti high in the ranks of the Christian imitators
of the antique, but which differ essentially from those by the same
mosaist in S. Maria Maggiore ; nor would it be easy to maintain
that the same artist could at one moment produce the Redeemer
in the form of the fourth, fifth, or sixth centuries, and at another
in that of the thirteenth. 1 Amongst the angels in the glory round
the Saviour, one on the extreme right seems to have been renewed
by Torriti. The head and mantle of S. Paul, the Virgin, S. John
the Baptist, Nicolas IV., S. Francis, and S. Anthony are likewise
renewed or introduced by him. 2 It is evident indeed that the
three last-mentioned personages are mere excrescences, not fitting
the place they occupy, either in accordance with the laws of space,
or the distribution of the older parts. As a concluding argument
it may be observed that the mosaic bears not the least resemblance
to the style of that executed by the monk Jacobus at Florence.
Far different is the character of a mosaic forming a lower course
to that of the semidome.
Here, between the windows, and parted asunder by trees, are
nine prophets of square frame and broad neck, whose draperies in
their cast, whose attitudes in their variety, and whose action in its
expressiveness resemble those of the tribune in the Baptistery of
Florence. On the lower border to the left is a miniature figure of an
old Franciscan with a large compass and rule. On the lower border
4
1 The head of the Saviour may have undergone repair, but if so maintains
the character described, namely that of the imitation of the antique.
2 The figure of S. Andrew is quite modern.
78 HISTORY OP PAINTING IN ITALY
to the right is a youthful kneeling figure of a Franciscan with a
hammer striking on a board. This latter figure is inscribed " Fr.
Jacob, de Camerino soci magri opis recommendat se raise Pi et. . .itis
[meritis] beati Johis." l There can be little doubt that this mosaic
is the work of the old Franciscan with the compass and rule painted
on the left, whose name is not inscribed, or, having been inscribed,
is lost, and that his assistant is the friar Jacobus de Camerino. In
no case can the mosaic be assigned to Jacobus Torriti, whose name
is only on the mosaic of the semidome. The old Franciscan may be
the same who laboured in the tribune of the Florence Baptistery, but
this can only be assumed from the similarity of style between the
two mosaics. As to the date of this lower course of mosaics there
can evidently be no certainty, but that it preceded the labours of
Torriti is probable.
So the absurdity which resulted from making Torriti at Rome
the same artist as Jacobus at Florence, a theory which gave the
artist a fabulous age, is avoided in a most simple and natural
manner.
Jacobus Torriti in his unadulterated character may be studied
in the apsis mosaic of S. Maria Maggiore.
Richness of ornament and gaiety of colour are the only claims of
this mosaic to the attention of the spectator. The Saviour, closely
draped in a gold shot mantle, is of a heavy frame. His large head,
enclosed in a mass of rolling hair, is of a round shape. His eyes are
large and gazing, His nose depressed, and mouth ill-shaped. The '
draperies are a maze of folds concealing the figure and movement.
The Virgin is a thin, feeble, and large-headed woman. The saints are
long, lean, and lame in attitude ; the angels better, and not without an
intention of action. All these defects are glaring because of the
enormous size of the mosaic.
They are less conspicuous in the small compositions which have
still something of the traditional antique and a certain animation
and nature. 3 Torriti, whose name is inscribed on the left hand
border of the semidome, " Jacobus Toriti pic tor hoc opus mosaicen
fecit," with the date 1295 on the opposite side, is thus an artist
of the close of the thirteenth century, who continued to improve
1 One Giacpmo da Camerino is recorded amongst the painters at the
Duomo of Orvieto in 1321, by DELIA VALLE, Storia del Duomo di Orvieto
(fol., Rome, 1791), p. 383, yet here he is not called Fra.
2 These compositions have points of contact with some assigned to
Cavallini.
JACOBUS TORRITI 79
art in the less important parts of decoration, but who left form
and composition to be taken up by other and superior artists. 1
1 Vasari having determined that Jacobus the Franciscan, of Florence,
was a native of Torrita, and having made of him and of Jacobus Torriti
one person, confuses matters still further by affirming that "Fra Jacobus
da Torrita was taken from Rome to Pisa, where, with the assistance of Tafi
and Gaddo Gaddi, he executed in the Duomo the Evangelists and other
works afterwards finished by Vicino " (VASAKI, vol. i., p. 285). Vasari hero
probably confounds his Fra Jacopo with one Turretto, a mosaist, whose
name is cited in records published by Ciampi. The mosaics of the Duomo
of Pisa were not begun before 1300 ; as for Vicino, a word of him later.
\_Cf. VENTITBI, op. cit., vol. v., p. 174.]
CHAPTER III
THE COSMATI AND PIETRO CAVALLINI
IT is characteristic of Italian historians that their opinions and
ideas as to the revival of art are frequently biassed by narrow
views and local prejudices. Far more important in their eyes was
the claim of some favoured city to the honour of that revival than
a true and comprehensive exposition of the extent or peculiarity,
the causes which led to it, or the effects which it produced. True
of Florence, of Siena, and of Pisa, this general reproach would be
unjustly extended to the historians of Roman art, who, on the
contrary, have done little to illustrate the names of the Cosmati
and their contemporaries. 1 These artists, whose history fills the
whole of the thirteenth century, were utterly unknown to Vasari ;
yet they were not without influence on the general development of
Italian sculpture, architecture, and painting. Nay, had not the
policy of the Papacy led to a memorable schism, and thus deprived
Rome for a time of its influence, it is likely that that capital might
have played a considerable part in the history of the revival of
art, and that the Cosmati would have been celebrated as the fore
runners of a purely Roman school.
At no great distance to the north of Rome lies Civita Castellana,
whose cathedral boasts of a respectable antiquity. A fine flight
of steps leads up to a porch of fair pretensions, flanked by porticoes.
The porch opens on to the chief portal by a broad arch resting on
pilasters and crowned with an entablature and balcony. The
portal is a series of entering pilasters and columns, above the
architrave of which is a recess with a fan window. The arched
border of this recess, as well as the pilasters, friezes, and wall are
worked in mosaic. In the key of the border is the Lamb, on the
1 The Cosmati have been noticed by AGINCOUJRT, by CICOGNARA, and by
DELLA VALLE. The latter (Star, del Duomo di Orvieto, ubi sup., p. 264) states
that he treated of this artistic family in an academic oration at Rome in
1788, but this oration seems to have remained unpublished, RUMOHB
(Forachungen, ubi sup., vol. i., pp. 270-71), devotes a few lines to them. The
merits of the Cosmati were best understood by Karl Witte of Breslau, by
whom an interesting paper appeared in the Kunstblatt (Stuttgardt and
Tubingen, series of the year 1825), beginning at No. 41.
80
THE COSMATI 81
pilasters, the symbols of the Evangelists. 1 The following inscription
on the architrave reveals the name of the author :
LAURENTIUS CUM JACOBO, FILIO SUO, MAGISTEI
JDOCTISSIMI KOMANI HOC OPUS FECERUNT. 2
Two lateral doors flank the chief portal, and in the lunette of
that to the right is a bust figure in mosaic of the Saviour, with a
cruciform jewelled nimbus, holding a book and stretching out His
right hand in the act of benediction. A natural movement and
fair contours mark the figure, which has none of the usual grimness
or vehemence. The oval head, enclosed by hair falling in a triple
wave behind the shoulders, has at least an expression of repose.
The chin, broad and bare, is fringed with a short beard, the nose
is straight, the mouth small and the eyes without stare. A red
tunic with gold borders and jewelled blue cuffs, a gold mantle,
complete the dress, which is shadowless and flat but fairly lined.
The yellowish flesh tints tend to red on the cheeks, and are outlined
with red in the lights and black in the shadows. On the architrave
below this gay and not unpleasant mosaic are the words :
,, ^ Tm i , RAINERIUS PETBI BODULPHI FIERI FECIT.
BUS M. FECITjJ
This mosaic is doubtless executed by Jacobus the son of Lauren
tius. On the frieze below the cornice of the portico is the following
inscription :
MAGISTER J . . . . OBUS, CIVTS ROMANUS CUM
..... SMA FILI* . . J ... U .... ANIS OHO
OPUS ANNO DNI MCCX "
This mutilated inscription with its imperfect date, 3 already
points' to the family of the Cosmati, who appear as " doctissimi
1 The arcliitecture of Civit& Castellana is purely Roman without a trace
of Gothic.
2 These two artists worked also at the old church of Falleri, three miles
from Civita Castellana, where, according to Karl Witte (Kunstblatt, ubi sup.,
1825, No. 41), is the following inscription :
f Laurentius cum f noc opus
Jacobo filio suo Quinta vatt.
fecit hoc opus. fieri fecit.
3 BTTMOHR assumes the date of 1210 (Forsckungen, ubisup., vol. i., p. 270),
and promises the inscription, which he afterwards omits. The date is
shortened by the loss of some of the numbers. ' It is possible that the mosaics
inside the porch and about the chief portal may be earlier than others signed
by Jacobus alone. The date of 1210 would ill suit the latter, who lives till
the close of the century. Karl Witte falls into a similar error.
I. &
82 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
Romani," mosaists and architects in the first half of the thirteenth
century. The extent of their practice is proved by numerous
monuments. Agincourt, Rumohr, and Karl Witte had already,
in the last century, noticed the inscriptions at Civita Castellana.
They noted the name of Laurentius and his son Lucas on the dwarf
arch of a cloister in S. Scolastica at Subiaco, 1 and on a cornice of
the ruined church of S. Alessio at Rome inscribed :
f JACOBUS, LAURENTII FECIT HAS BEGEM ET
NOVEM COLUMPNAS CUM CAPITELLIS SUIS. 2
Their family name of Cosmati is more certainly proved by works
in the cathedral of Anagni, on the stone pavement of which the
following inscription may be read :
f DOMINUS ALBERTUS VENERABILIS ANAGNEN EPS FECIT
HOC FIERI PAVIMENTUM PI. COSTRUENDO MAGISTER RAI-
NALDUS ANAGNINUS CANONICUS D^I HONORII III. P. P.
SUBDIACON ET CAPPELLA& C. OBOLOS AUREOS EROGAVIT,
MAGIST. COSMAS HOC OPUS FECIT.
On the pediment of the altar of the lower basilica, erected
A.D. 1227-41 in the time of Gregory IX., is also the following :
MAGISTER COSMAS CIVIS ROMANUS CUM
FILIIS SUIS LUCA ET JACOBO FECIT. 3
Of Laurentius and Luca Cosmati the historian now takes leave,
as their names cease to appear on monuments, but Jacobus seems
during a long career to have followed his father's profession with
success.
The Villa Mattei at Rome, whose grounds on the Celian Hill
are visited by tourists for the splendour of its views, was, in the
thirteenth century, a hospital for the redemption of slaves. 4 An
1 According to AGINCOURT as follows : " COSMAS ET FIL. LUC. IA. ALT.
BOMANI CTVES IN MARMORIS ARTE PERITI. HOC OPUS EXPLERUNT ABATIS
TPE. LAUDI" (Kwnsiblatt, year 1825, ubi sup., No. 41). According to MS.
records, says Witte, this inscription should bear the date, 1235. Ibid.
3 These columns were inlaid with mosaics in the style peculiar to the
Cosmati at Civita Castellana, and to the tombs which shall be noticed.
8 Chi the wall of the same edifice, according to Karl Witte, was the
following I " ANNO DNI MCCXXX I XI DIE EXEUNTE APRILI, PONT. DNI
GG. VIIH., P. P. ANN. EJ, V VEN. ALBERTO EP5, RESIDENTS I., ECC. ANAG.
P. MAN. MAGRB, COSME CIVIS ROMANI FUIT AMOTTJM ALTARE GLORIOSISSIMI
3ART, PRESULIS MAGNJ INFRA QUOD FUIT INVENTUM I QDAM PILO MARMOREO
RTJDI PRETIOSUM CORP. IPS. MART. Q. KT. MAJI SEQNTIS TOTI P. P. PUBLICS
OSTENSO EODEM DIE CUM YMPNIS ET LAUDIB. IN EODEM PILO SUB ALTARI
HOC ORATORIO IN EPSIUS HONOREM CONDITO FUNDITUS ET RECONDITXJM CUM
HONORE."
* Called by BELLA VALLE (Stor. del Dtiomo di Orweto, p. 264), S. Tommaso
in Formis.
THE COSMATI 83
arched recess above the portal contains a medallion mosaic repre
senting on a large scale the " signum ordinis Sanctas Trinitatis et
Captivorurn." In the centre of this medallion, on gold ground,
the Saviour sits enthroned, extending His hands to a white and
black captive standing bound on each side of Him.
The space is well distributed, the colour harmonious and gay.
The Saviour, feeble of body and large of head, has a melancholy ex
pression. The broad round forehead, pendent forelock, pointed chin,
and beard divided like the tail of a drake, the almond-shaped eyes,
do not combine to form a pleasing type ; but doubtless its original
character is much impaired by restoring. The yellow flesh tints,
verging into red semitones and green shadows, fairly render the idea
of relief. The outlines are red in light and dark in shadow, the
draperies marked out with lines without shadow. The captives,
nude with the exception of the cloths on their waists, are square of
frame with defective extremities. 1 The following inscription is
engraved on the arch of the portal :
MAGISTEB JACOBUS, CUM PILIO SUO COSMATO
FECIT HOC OPUS.
If not as fair as the Saviour at Civita Castellana, this much
restored one of the Villa Mattei is still by the same hand, and
confirms the belief that Jacobus the son of Laurentius is the same
who now appears in his turn assisted by the Cosmatus his son.
Nor is it too much to ^assume that the architecture, which is of the
Roman style, and the mosaic are the joint production of both.
The graceful chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum, probably by
Jacobus and inscribed on the left-hand pilaster of the entrance with
the words " MAGISTER COSMATUS FECIT HOG OPUS," 2 is of a simple
and light architecture which does honour to the family.
The vault is supported on four slender pillars, and the light streams
in from a range of trefoil windows resting on twisted columns. The
groined ceiling is painted with the symbols of the Evangelists, and
the faces of the arches with subjects from the lives of SS. Peter, Paul,
Stephen, Lawrence, Agnes, and Nicholas ; but these are all so com
pletely restored as to defy criticism.
Coincidence of style with the mosaics of Civit& Castellana and
the Villa Mattei may justify the attribution to Jacobus Cosmatus
1 There is much restoring in all these figures, but particularly in the
nude of the slaves, and in the background. The white captive bears a cross
apparently to distinguish him from his fellow of another colour and religion.
2 The Sancta Sanctorum at Rome was rebuilt in the pontificate of
Nicolas III., A.D. 1277-1281.
84 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
or his son Giovanni, of a Virgin and Child in benediction, with
the half figure of an angel at each side, in a lunette above the lateral
door leading from the Capitol to the church of Araceli. The Virgin
expresses in her attitude dignity and repose, but the group loses
in balance on account of the small size of the Saviour. The violet
drapery which covers the Virgin's head and shoulders is of easy
folds, but flatly lined out, as in the Saviour of the Villa Mattei.
The head itself is large and broad of cheek, the nose a little bent,
the eyes round without stare, and the mouth small. The hands
are regular and the fingers pointed ; and a fair division of light
and shade gives a certain relief to the flesh. The Saviour, though
defective in type, is draped in the elastic folds of a red tunic shot
with gold. The angels, discoloured and in part restored, are also
in shot vestments. The outlines are everywhere precise and clear.
The mosaics of Civita Castellana and of the Villa Mattei already
exhibited the Roman school in its purely Italian characteristics.
The former showed an improvement upon those, for instance, of
S. Clemente, and the existence of that Italo-Roman school which
began at S. Maria in Cosmedin, and might be traced upwards to
the thirteenth century. The Saviour of Civit^t Castellana was of
that natural and regular form which already marked the figures
at S. Urbano alia Caffarella, and even disclosed a link by which
to confine within the Roman school the tribune mosaics of S.
Giovanni of Florence. The mosaic of the Virgin and Child at
Araceli was, on the other hand, apparently executed at a time
when the influence of Giotto in transforming the old schools was
felt, when Byzantine-Italian style became more Italian, and when
types were remodelled on a more ideal Christian form. Nor was
it strange that Jacobus Cosmatus should follow the impulse of
changes which had already affected the schools of Florence and
Pisa, and which could not but be felt at Rome when Arnolf o visited
the capital hi 1285 ; the more as, between 1290 and 1300, Jacobus
himself left Rome for Orvieto, 1 and was employed there as an
architect with Ramo di Paganello, of whom a contemporary record
says : " Est de bonis intaliatw'ibus et svultoribus de mundo" 2 and
numerous architects and painters besides.
Amongst the monuments which bear characteristic features
VALLE, Storia del Ditomo di Orvieto, p. 264, cites the original
record without giving its text, and without fixing exactly the year.
2 Ramo di Paganello was capo-maestro del opera at Orvieto in 1290-1300.
BELLA VALLB, Stor. del Do* d. On?., also Letter e Saticfie of the same (Rome,
fol., 1785), vol. ii., p. 10.
THE COSMATI 85
of resemblance with, the architectural style developed by the
Cosmati family is that of Cardinal Anchera, now transferred to
the Cappella del Crocifisso near the high altar of the church of
S. Prassede. The cardinal's extended frame lies on a slab, resting
on a tomb, whose cornice is supported on slight pillars adorned
with mosaics. The cloth, which seems to fall over the sides of
the slab, is adorned with the star and lily. Cardinal Anchera
died in 1286, and the tomb bears that date. 1 Another monument
of somewhat different character but of the thirteenth century, is
that of the Savelli in the chapel of that family at Araceli. It is
based on an old sarcophagus filled with bacchic ornaments, and is
crowned by an edicule, on the summit of which is the statue of
the Virgin holding the infant Saviour. Mosaics are let into the
columns as in other monuments of the time of the Cosmati, yet
this tomb is assigned to the Sienese Agostino and Agnolo, who
are supposed to have executed it from the drawings of Giotto. 2
Of Johannes Cosma, who may not unnaturally be considered
the son of Jacobus, monuments have been preserved, which reveal
in him an universal talent for mosaic, architecture, and sculpture.
The tomb of Cardinal Gonsalvo in S. Maria Maggiore is inscribed :
HIC DEPOSITTJS FUIT QUONDA DNS GUNSALVUS EPS
ALBAKEN. ANN. BNI MCCLXXXXVim HOC OP. EEC.
JOHES MAGRI COSME CIVJS KOMANUS.
The recumbent statue of the Cardinal lies in episcopate on a slab,
whilst two angels standing at the sides seem reverently to disclose
his person by lifting the folds of a winding sheet. A cloth hangs
over the tomb, which is worked in mosaic ; and a trefoil niche con-
1 With the following inscription :
QUI LEGIS AKCHERUM I>URO SUB MARMOBE CLAUDI
SHSTESCIS AU>IS QUEM NECE PERDIS HEBUM
CEECA PARIT PUERTO! LAUDTTNUM BAT SIBI CLERUS,
GARDEN'S PRAXEDIS TITULATUR ET ISTIUS ,3EDES DEFUIT IN SELIS.
L \RGUS FUIT : ATQUE FIDELIS :
DEMONIS A TELIS SERVA DETTS HUNC C^EPE GCEUS
AHNO JOLLENO CENTUM BIS ET OCTUAGENO SEXTO
DECESSIT BIG PRIMA LUCE NOVEMBRIS.
2 A manifest error, if dates and style be considered. The tomb contains
the bodies of Luca SavelH, father of Honorius IV., who died 1266, and other
members of the family. The latest date on the tomb is 1306. There is some
resemblance between the tomb of Cardinal Anchera described in the text
and that of Boniface VHL (1294-1303) in the west transept of the Nuove
Grotte in the basilica of S. Pietro at Rome, a tomb which Vasari, in the
Giuntina edition, assigns to Arnolfo, saying that it is inscribed with his
name. Cicognara gives an engraving of it (vol. L, plate 22), adding in the
text that the name of Arnolfo was not to be found there, and that the tomb
is in the style of the Cosmati. [<?/. L. FUMI, II Duomo di Orvieto e i suoi
reatauri (Roma, 1891), and L. DOUGLAS, in Architectural Review, June, 1903.]
86 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
tains a mosaic of the Virgin enthroned, holding the infant Saviour
and supported on each side by the standing figures of S. Martin and
S. Matthew. A certain readiness of movement and nature in the
attitudes reveal the progress of art in the family of the Cosmati.
More it would be idle to say, considering the very great damage pro
duced by restoring. 1
But Johannes Cosma yielded the most convincing proof that
the impulse given to art by Giotto 2 was not lost upon him when
he executed the tomb of Guillaume Durand, Bishop of Mende, at
S. Maria Sopra Minerva, a monument in which earnestness of
purpose and judicious balance of parts were combined with progress
in the rendering of form.
The bishop was represented at full length on the slab of a tomb
covered with an embroidered cloth, whilst two winged angels, firmly
standing at each extremity, raised a curtain. In the recess formed
by an arch supported on inlaid pillars, the Virgin sat enthroned in a
vast chair, holding the infant Saviour in the act of blessing, between
a saint in episcopals and the bending form of S. Dominic. 3 This
group was executed in mosaic, now half restored in stucco and re
painted, and the arch forming the recess, the scutcheons on the front
of the tomb were, like the pillars, similarly adorned. The figure of
Durand, evidently a portrait, was broadly chiselled with well marked
planes of features. The angels were of that form and proportion
which Giotto had already introduced, though still of the old style
in the imperfection of the features. The draperies were, for the time
and place, a remarkable instance of progress. In the mosaic, the
stature of the personages was fair and well-proportioned. A large
head on a thin neck a melancholy expression in the almond-shaped
eye, might be noticed in the Virgin. There lingered something still
of the old Roman forms of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. 4 The
nose was depressed and somewhat masculine, but the hands were
more than usually neat and long-fingered. The infant Saviour was
well-proportioned, and the saints pleasing by their natural air of
humility. 5 The group was indeed as remarkable for a certain ex
pression of religion and piety as for the absence of that grimness which
1 AGINCOUUT (vol. il, text, p. 51, note a) sees the hand of Arnolfo in
the sculpture of this monument and that of Johannes Cosma in the archi
tecture, but what of the mosaic ?
2 Giotto had been at Borne between 1298 and 1300. [Compare with this
tomb that of the Cardinal Gonsalvo in S. Maria Maggiore. Durand died
in 1296, and though Giotto may have influenced Roman artists about this
time, it seems unlikely, for he was only twenty-three years old.]
3 Behind each of the side figures a candelabra.
4 For instance, those beginning at S. Urbano alia Caffarella,
6 The figure of the bishop is long, with a certain antique feeling in the
form of the features.
THE COSMATI 87
had so long characterised the Italo-Byzantine manner. 1 On the base
of the tomb were the words :
HOC EST SEPULCRUM DNI GULIELMI DURATI EPI MI-
MATENSIS ORD. PRED .... REDIIT DOMINI SUB MILLE
TRECENTIS QUATUOR AMOTIS ANNIS.
JOHS FILIUS MAGRl COSMATI FEC. HOC OPUS. 2
In the year 1304, the tomb of Cardinal Matteo d'Aequa Sparta
was erected in the left transept of Araceli. It was conceived and
carried out on the same principle as that of Durand, but adorned
in the recess with painting instead of mosaic.
On the slab, as usual, the bishop in episcopals, with angels raising
the curtain ; in the recess, the Virgin and Child enthroned, S. Francis
presenting the kneeling figure of the deceased, and S. John Evangelist ;
on the key of the arch of the recess, a painted bust of the Saviour in
benediction, and on the arch and pillars mosaic patterns.
The architecture and ornament were but a repetition of those
of the Cosmati, who, if this monument be assigned to them, as it
may without presumption, thus appear as a family uniting to the
profession of architects, mosaists, and sculptors that of the painter.
The most interesting works, however, of the school of the
Cosmati are the mosaics which cover the lower part of the tribune
and arch of the tribune in Santa Maria in Trastevere.
On the sides of the arch are the Birth and the Death of the Virgin.
In the tribune itself the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Adoration of
the Magi, and the Presentation in the Temple. These compositions,
conceived in the old forms which had been religiously preserved from
former times, were equally remarkable for balance in the distribution
of the masses, for the truth and animation given by the artist to his
figures, and for his fair attainments in design and colour. If not
entirely free from exaggerated action, he knew at times how to temper
the agitation of one figure by the comparative repose of another.
In .the Birth of the Virgin, well-balanced groups might be parti-
1 The whole of the lower part of the mosaic, including almost the whole
of the kneeling bishop, the draperies of the Virgin from the knees down
wards, is restored with painted stucco. There is quite a family likeness
between this monument and that of Cardinal Anehera at S. Prassede.
2 In a corner is the following : " CAMTLLUS CECCARINI RESTAUB. FECIT
ANNO 1817."
VAN DER HAGEN, in Brief e, &6., gives the following inscription on a tomb
in S. Balbina at Rome :
" f JOKE'S FILTUS MAG&E COSMATI FECIT HOC OPUS . . me JACET . . .
DOMEST. STEPHAN D. SURD. DNI P. P. CAPELLAN." KunStblatt, 1825, No. 41.
88 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
cularly noticed. 1 8* Anna might be seen in a fine attitude attended
by two servants with, a jug and basin, in graceful attitudes ; and this
incident, which in the pose of the Virgin recalled the antique, was
kept in judicious equilibrium by another in the foreground, repre
senting a female with the infant Virgin on her knees, stooping to feel
the temperature of the water in a pan which another figure was filling.
The forms of the infant were natural and regular, and the figures
significant in their action. The Nativity was equally well distributed.,
the Virgin still in the old action and shape, but the angels not without
elegance. In the Death of the Virgin, the subject was animated
in movement, whilst in the Annunciation, and Adoration of the Magi,
the types and attitudes were still reminiscent of the Italo-Byzantine
manner in their exaggerated character, and revealed the struggle of
a new element in art with old and worn-out forms. The figures were
generally somewhat slender. In colour these mosaics were harmonious,
and had, so to speak, the nature of painting, as if it were of little
moment to the artist in what material he laboured. The execution
was conscientious, the drawing fairly accurate, the draperies good, the
masses of light and shade well defined. S. Maria in Trastevere was
in fact to the Cosmati what Assisi is to Giotto.
In the spaces beneath the foregoing subjects at S. Maria in
Trastevere is a mosaic representing the bust of the Virgin and
Child in a prismatic medallion.
The Saviour looks down towards a kneeling figure of Bertoldo
Stefaneschi presented by S. Peter, whilst S. Paul looks on at the
opposite side. 2 In front of Bertoldo are his scutcheon and the words
repainted in oil "Bartolus filius Pet . . . ." The Virgin may be
said to represent, in her features and draperies, the perfection of
the manner of the Cosmati. The features of the Saviour and the
folds of His red mantle, touched in gold, are fine. The figures of
S. Peter and S. Paul, both long and slender and of noble mien, are
finely draped, individual in character, and modelled in good relief,
with broad masses of light and shade.
Here the Byzantine style had disappeared and made room for
the improved one of Giotto. Life and individuality had succeeded
to the defects of earlier times. Giotto had evidently shed his
influence on the artist ; and if it be true that the upper scenes of
1 See the same composition in the Menologio. Miniature of the Vatican,
No. 1613.
* These saints are of traditional types. They stand in a meadow, the
rest of the background being gold. The feet of S. Paul, the left foot of S.
Peter, and part of the kneeling figure are repainted. S. Paul wears a blue
tunic and purple mantle, S. Peter a blue tunic. Part of the flowers in the
foreground and of the inscription are repainted.
PIETRO CAVALLINI 89
the life of the Virgin were commissioned by Bertoldo Stefaneschi
in 1290, he must have ordered the votive mosaic at the very close
of the century. Vasari affirms that Pietro Cavallini is the author
of the mosaics in the tribune of S. Maria in Trastevere. His
assertion may be accepted. It places the master high in the ranks
of the painters of his time as one preserving the style of the Cosmati
and of the Roman school.
So far it has been necessary to proceed to trace the passage
of the manner of the Cosmati into that of Cavallini. 1
The birth of Pietro Cavallini has not been recorded, but Vasari
pretends that it occurred when Giotto " had given life to Italian
painting," 2 a very general and unsatisfactory assertion. That
he was an artist of talent, and perhaps extensively employed at
Rome when Giotto visited the capital ; that his training was
under the Cosmati, and that he did not disdain to acknowledge
the superiority of the great Florentine, may be assumed from the
character of the works that can be assigned to him. 3 That he
visited many parts of central Italy is stated by Vasari, who has
not been confirmed hitherto by records. There is, however, a
certainty that Cavallini was ha 1308 in the service of Robert of
Naples, at a high salary, and it is only to be regretted that no trace
of pictorial productions due to him can now be found in the
1 Before taking leave of the former, it may be proper to assign to them
in their architectural capacity a fine Roman porch, with a square front of
white marble, erected by one of the Gaetani family as entrance to an
hospital, but now serving as ingress to the church of S. Antonio Abate at
Rome. In style like the porch of Civitk Castellana cathedral and the gate
of the Villa Mattei, this example of the architecture of the thirteenth century
is worthy of the talent of Jacobus Cosma. Inscribed :
" D&S PETRUS CA . . . 5C CARD. MANDAVIT cSSTRUI HOSPITALE LOCO ISSTO
[sic] ET D&I . . . O TlTSCUL. E 3 ET I GAETAN, CARD. EXECOTORES ET FIERI
FECERUNT PA . . . CE Dfil PET. CAP CC.
The Cosmati family is said to have had a descendant Deodato or
Adeodato, to whom a marble tabernacle in S. Maria in Cosmedin is assigned,
and of whom it is likewise said that he laboured in Santa Maria Maggiore,
but no record exists that connects this Deodato with the name of Cosma.
See note in comment, to Proemio of VASARI'S Lives, vol. i., p. 213. The only
trace of a Cosmatus at S. M. Maggiore is the name of Johannes on the tomb
of Cardinal Gonsalvo. The words " MAGISTER DEODATTTS FECIT HOC OPUS "
are noted by CIAMPINT, Vett* Mon., torn, i., p. 181, on a tabernacle of 1290
in S. M. in CampiteUi at Rome.
2 VASARI, vol. ii., p. 81.
3 [Pietro Cavallini s frescoes discovered lately at S. Cecilia in Trastevere
were unknown to Crowe and Cavalcaselle. Had they seen these admirable
works, they would doubtless have seen also less of Tuscan than of classic
influence there. Not Tuscan realism, but a true antique convention mani
fests itself in those wonderful frescoes. Ghiberti speaks of Cavallini as
Primo -fro, gValtri maestri. Of. C. FREY, Vita di L. Ghiberti . . . con i com-
mentari di L. Q. (Berlin, 1886), p. 38.]
90 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
southern capital. 1 As to his works elsewhere, it will be necessary
in some cases to resign them to their real authors, men, as will
appear, of little talent or pretensions ; in others, to admit the pro
priety of Vasari's judgment. Cavallini appears with truth to be
considered as the author of a mosaic in S. Crisogono at Rome,
representing, on a large scale, the Virgin enthroned with the Infant
in the act of benediction, supported by S. James holding a book,
and S. Crisogono in a warrior's dress grasping a sword. 2 A
slightly Byzantine character, more noticeable than at Santa Maria
in Trastevere, would place this mosaic amongst the earlier works
of the master.
The Yirgin, of a majestic presence, still displays, in unfavourable
contrast, feeble lower parts and overweight of head. Her eyes are
somewhat large and open. The Child's head is regular and its attitude
natural. The figures generally are long, but well draped and the
colour pleasant.
Of the paintings in this church assigned to Cavallini by Vasari
not a trace remains, but there are still vestiges of frescoes in the
church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, which, though damaged by
time, are in the style of the mosaics of the tribune.
Above a door, to the right as one enters, is a half figure of the Virgin
1 See the original document in H. W. SCHTJXZ, DenJcmdler der Kunst des
Mittelcdters (4to, Dresden, I860), vol. iv,, p. 127. He is described as receiving
thirty ounces of gold per annum, with two ounces in addition for lodging.
[The mosaic in S. Crisogono does not seem to be from the hand of Pietro
Gavallini. One seems to find there the influence of the art of Giotto in the
work of a poorer master than Pietro Cavallini, who is seen at his best only
in the lately discovered frescoes in S. Cecilia in Trastevere. Vasari tells
us that he painted many frescoes there, and Ghiberti saw them and wrote
that the church was painted tutto di sua mano. The paintings discovered
were in the Coro delle Monache, covering three sides of it. There we see
the Last Judgment, Christ on a throne crusted with precious stones, in
a purple of mandola, His arms open, welcoming the blessed and dismissing
the damned. About the mandola are angels, cherubim, and seraphim with
wings of flame. On the right is the Blessed Virgin, on the left S. John
Baptist begging for mercy on the world, beside them stand the Apostles.
Four angels announce the Judgment with trumpets, and close by SS. Stefano
and Lorenzo wait.
On the left side of the Coro is a fragment of a colossal S. Christopher
and then an Annunciation. On the right side are certain biblical stories
almost obliterated. In all this no Tuscan influence is felt, but rather a
classical. Cf. HERMAXEN, La Gallerie Italians (1902), and VENTUBI, op. tit,
vol. v., pp. 147-151.]
2 In the tribune of the transept behind the altar. The paintings assigned
to Cavallini in S. Crisogono (VAS., vol. ii., p. 81) no longer exist. The frescoes
in Araceli are likewise gone (ibid., p, 82), and the same fate has attended
the frescoes at S. Cecilia in Trastevere and S. Francesco appresso Ripa
(ibid., vol. ii., p. 82).
PIETRO CAVALLINI 91
with. the infant Saviour holding the orb in the act of benediction. 1
This group is inferior to the mosaics in design ; and whilst the large
head and slender neck, the defective hands of the Virgin betray a
certain feebleness, the marked outlines and angular draperies, and
the absence of relief by shadow, prove that Cavallim was a better
mosaist than painter. 2 Another Virgin, with a small and puny Saviour
in^her arms, a little less defective than the foregoing, but much re
painted, may be noticed near the chief portal. 3 It makes a nearer
approach in character to the apsis mosaics. In the portico outside
are two frescoes, one of which represents the Annunciation with a
figure of a prophet, the second depicts the same subject with the
addition of the Eternal sending to the Virgin the Infant carrying a cross. 4
Cavallini here appears as a follower of the Roman school, from
which he evidently sprung, yet as an artist whose power had reached
its full development. It must indeed have been fortunate for
Giotto that, on bis arrival, he should find such a man ready to assist
him and to admit the superiority of his genius. It was but natural,
then, that Cavallini, having helped Giotto in the mosaics of the
basilica of S. Pietro, 5 should insensibly adopt something of his
style. So when Vasari states that Cavallini was the disciple of
Giotto, and later " that he mixed the Greek manner with that of
Giotto," 6 he only confirms the impression created by the works
of a master who, after having been educated in the old Homan
school, adopted, at least in his mosaics, something of the Florentine
manner. But Cavallini went still further, and in adorning the
arches in S. Paolo fuori le Mura, he was content to carry out the
designs of Giotto even after that master had left Rome.
On the arch of the tribune, whose mosaics of the thirteenth century
have been described, the Virgin and Child enthroned and guarded by
1 The head of the infant Saviour is not without nature. The general
tone of the flesh tints is yellowish, and the outlines marked with a deep
red colour.
2 [It must be remembered that Crowe and Cavalcaselle had not seen the
recently discovered work in S. Cecilia in Trastevere spoken of above.]
3 The draperies are almost all repainted. [Quite spoiled now.]
4 These two Annunciations are likewise almost entirely overpainted, the
last, however, more than the first.
5 VAS., vol. ii, pp. 81, 82. These mosaics have disappeared.
6 VAS., vol. iL, p. 82. [What Vasari calls the " Greek manner " may
well have been the unmistakable classical influence in Cavallmi's work.
That Cavallini was Giotto's assistant seems almost unthinkable. Great as
was Giotto's genius, we are slow to believe that he, then three- or four-and-
twenty, became the master of the greatest painter then living in Italy. There
is no evidence for it at all beyond the stories of the Aretine. All that
Crowe and Cavalcaselle here say of Cavallini is said in ignorance of the work
at S. Cecilia in Trastevere.]
92 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
two angels was represented also in mosaic with the symbol of S, John
Evangelist above her, and on the opposite side Pope Benedict XI. in
prayer (A.D. 1303-1305), presented by S. John the Baptist, with the
symbol of S. Mark the Evangelist above him. The medallion in the
centre of the arch of triumph, representing the Saviour in benediction
with the book, was held aloft by two G-iottesque angels in fine atti
tudes ; the symbols of the Evangelists Luke and Matthew being
depicted at each side in the more modern Florentine manner. The
figures of SS. Benedict and John the Baptist, as well as that of the
Saviour in the medallion of the arch of triumph, are modernised ; but
the rest of the mosaic shows that in 1305, but a few years after the de
parture of Giotto from Rome, an artist, probably Cavallini, was found
willing and able to carry out designs not his own. 1
Had Vasari said that Cavallini painted the apsis of S. Giorgio
in Velabro, the subject of which was the Saviour sitting on the orb
of the world, with the Virgin, SS. George, Peter, and Sebastian at
His sides, he would not have been far from the truth. This work
indeed seems but a repetition of a mosaic previously there, yet the
execution betrays something of the Giottesque manner, whilst the
types and slender forms of the saints about the Saviour are
reminiscent of the mosaics of Santa Maria in Trastevere. This
much injured and restored painting, ordered by Cardinal Gaetano
Stefaneschi after 1295, is, however, assigned to Giotto himself.
Vasari brings Cavallini to Florence, and assigns to him the
Annunciation, a fresco in the church of San Marco. 2 Yet the
Annunciation of S. Marco is very different in character from the
paintings and mosaics of Rome.
The Virgin sits at the right of an interior on a cushioned bench.
Before her is the bending figure of the angel, with a vase of lilies in
front and traces of a kneeling person behind him. Above was no
doubt the Eternal sending the Dove of the Holy Ghost, whose ray
alone may now be seen illuminating the Virgin's forehead.
1 According to Vasari, Cavallini executed the mosaics of the front and
nave of S. Paolo, which perished in the fire of 1823. VASABI, vol. ii., p. 82.
[The above mosaics, if they are indeed Cavallinfs, have been so much restored
as to be no longer his work ; but what evidence is there for ascribing them
to him ?]
2 VAS., vol. ii., p. 82. Other works given to Cavallini at S. Marco, the
portrait of Urban V. with SS. Peter and Paul, were whitewashed in the time
of Vasari, Ibid., p. 83. [Vasari did not know Cavallini's work from any
other ; yet when he tells us that Cavallini was the assistant of Giotto, and
that he, a great master, carried out the designs of a young man beginning
his career, we accept his word 1 Charming writer as he is, we should not
perhaps demand accuracy of him.]
PIETRO CAVALLINI 93
This much damaged and repainted fresco might have been
executed by a painter of the fourteenth century. The movement
may even be said to display something in the intention that recalls
Angelico, though the work is possibly of an earlier period. The
stature and forms of the figures are not without elegance ; but
the half-closed eyes, the small mouth and chin, and the absence
of all feeling betray a very inferior artist. 1 The miraculous Annun
ciation of the SS. Annunziata at the Servi of Florence is a repetition
of the fresco of S. Mark and seldom visible to profane eyes. 2 Hence
the absence of an opinion upon it may be pardoned, A third
Annunciation at S. Basih'o, which doubtless perished in the demoli
tion of that church (A.D. 1785), completes the series of paintings at
Florence to which Vasari alludes. 3 Continuing his journey through
Italy, adds Vasari, Cavallini painted in the north transept of the
Lower Church of San Francesco at Assisi a Crucifixion and other
incidents of the Passion of the Saviour. These are still in existence,
but the biographer seems to have confounded Pietro Cavallini
with Pietro Lorenzetti. The character of the painting is not
Giottesque, either in distribution or in composition, or in character,
type, drawing, drapery, ornament, or colour. It is Sienese, and of
the school of the Lorenzetti. Nor is it possible, in all the subjects
that have been enumerated, to trace any variety of hand. The
school of Giotto is sufficiently represented at S. Francesco of Assisi
to render all mistake impossible. Were there any trace of the
Giottesque in the paintings assigned to Cavallini, it might be granted
that Vasari was right. Cavallini, who was great, especially when
he followed the designs of Giotto, and who revealed his Roman
education when he had not Giotto for a guide, cannot be the author
of paintings which bear the unmistakable stamp of the school of
Siena ; and Vasari, by assigning them to him, simply contradicts
his own description of the style of Cavallini. But that Vasari put
the materials of this life together at haphazard is sufficiently proved
at Orvieto, where he assigns to Cavallini the frescoes in the chapel
1 Not the slightest resemblance can be traced in this Annunciation to
those in the church of S, Maria in Trastevere at Rome.
2 VAS., vol. ii., p. 85. See also in RICHA, Ohiese Florentine (fol; Flor.,
1754), vol. viii., p. 89, a chapter on this Annunciation with a supposed
criticism by Michael Angelo. The tradition at Florence was that the Virgin's
face was painted by an angel.
3 RICHA, Chiese, vol. i., p. 292, quotes Baldinucci, who assigns to Pietro
Cavallini a fourth Annunciation preserved in the church in Orbatello at
Florence. YAS., vol. ii., p. 83-4. He adds, the altarpioce bears the date
of 14-85, which destroys the whole theory of Baldinucci. Yet it is probable
that the date is that of the ornamental frame, not of the picture.
94 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
del SS. Corporate, 1 paintings of a third-rate order, signed by their
author, Ugolino di Prete Ilario. That Cavallini was a successful
sculptor need excite no surprise, were it proved that he executed
any works of that kind. The examples of the Cosmati were near
at hand and numerous at Rome, but the wooden Saviour on the
Crucifix in S. Paolo fuori le Mura (Chapel del Crocitisso) 2 is of that
colossal and developed anatomy which betrays the age of Donatello
more than that of Cavallini. 3
Vasari, uncertain as to the period in which Cavallini lived,
says : " His works were about the year 1364, and he was buried in
S. Paul at Rome." 4 He gives an epitaph which seems as much
entitled to credit as that celebrated one in which Archbishop Turpin
consecrates the church of SS. Apostoli at Florence in the presence
of Roland and Oliver. 5
The only disciple of Cavallini, according to Vasari, is one
Giovanni da Pistoia. Such an artist existed in the fourteenth
century at Pistoia, and a few lines may be devoted to him at the
proper time.
1 VAS., vol. ii., p. 84. 2 Ibid., p. 85.
3 This Crucifix is, according to Pistolesi (annot. to VAS., p. 84, vol. ii.),
the same mentioned by Vasari. If so it deserves attention only for a
miraculous conversation between the crucified Saviour and S. Brigitta in
1370. VAS., vol. ii., p. 84.
* VAS., vol. ii., p. 85.
5 VAS., Proemio, vol. i., p. 210. [It will thus be seen that everything
Vasari says of Cavallini is altogether untrustworthy, and must be received
not only with caution but with a profound scepticism. Had Crowe and
Cavalcaselle seen the work of Cavallini in S. Cecilia in Trastevere, they might
have repudiated Vasari's tales about Cavallini being Giotto's assistant as well
as the other assertions of that romance writer.]
Anderson*
ADORATION OF THE MAGI
From the Mosaic in S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome.
Anderson.
THE NATIVITY
From, the Mosaic in S. Maria in. Trastevere, Rome.
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CHAPTER IV
NICCOLA AND GIOVANNI PISANI
WHILST the sister arts of building, sculpture, and painting revived
at Rome during the thirteenth century, Pisa distanced every rival
in plastic delineation. Previous to that time she had distinguished
herself by an active trading spirit, and by the creation of a navy
which claimed and wielded a natural supremacy. Her galleys were
the dread of the Saracens, whom she assisted to expel from Sicily,
and she had alternately subdued or favoured the small trading
cities of the west and south coasts of Italy. Commerce yielded
natural fruits in power, wealth, and influence, and these entitled
Pisa to hold the foremost rank in the regeneration of art. Niccola,
usually called Pisano, or the Pisan, was the chief of a school which
restored to sculpture some of its past greatness. He was the fore
runner of an army of men who accomplished much for Italy, and
who deserve the place which a grateful posterity assigns to them.
But he is entitled to further consideration as one who gave an
unexpected impulse to "an art which had sunk into the deepest
decay. It is less for the purpose of giving a full and precise account
of Italian sculptors than with the intention of elucidating the
course of the Pisan revival that the following sketch is attempted.
Previous to Niccola Pisano, sculptors existed in most parts of
Italy, and humbly illustrated, amongst others, the cities of the
Centre and the North. Florence had not as yet taken the lead in
painting, and was not to envelop sculpture in her influence till later.
But in Pisa, Pistoia, Lucca, and other towns, examples of the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries were numerous. With the assistance of
these it may be possible to satisfy the following inquiries.
Firstly : Was not Niccola the sole representative of the greatness
of sculpture in the middle of the thirteenth century in Central Italy ?
Secondly : Was ntft the art of Pistoia, Lucca, and Pisa one from
which no good cultivation was to be expected ? The earliest
sculptures of Pistoia are those of Gruamons, who carved scriptural
scenes of the rudest kind on the chief portal of S. Andrea and on
95
96 HISTORY OP PAINTING IN ITALY
the architrave of the lateral portal of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas.
Both are inscribed, the latter with the words :
GRUAMONS MAGISTEK, BONUS FEC, HOC OPUS
but the epithet " bonus " applied to one so poor is a telling comment
on the art of the time. 1
Contemporary with Gruamons was one who, in 1167, executed
in relief the Saviour in the midst of the apostles on the architrave
of the chief portal of S. Bartolommeo in Pantano. This rude work
is inscribed
RODOLF (?) NO, S.P. ANNI DOMNI MCLXVII. 2
At S. Andrea again, the reliefs on the pilasters of the chief portal,
representing incidents from the New Testament, are the defective
work of one signing himself
MAGISTER ENRICUS ME FECIT.
Equally rude with the sculptors of Pistoia in the twelfth century
were those of Lucca, one of whom, Biduinus, executed in low relief
a subject on the architrave of the portal of the ex-church of San
Salvatore, which he inscribed with the words :
BIDUVINO ME FECIT HOC OPUS.
in style as defective as the Latin of the inscription. The period in
which Biduino lived is revealed in the bas-reliefs cited by Morrona,
at San Cassiano near Pisa. 3 He was an artist of the close of the
twelfth century, and neither better nor worse than Gruamons of
Pistoia. Robertas, his contemporary at Lucca, executed incidents
taken from the Old Testament on a baptismal font, to the right
as one enters the church of S. Frediano. He was a sculptor less
defective than Gruamons. 4 One of the completest monuments
of the twelfth century, however, is the quadrangular pulpit of
S. Michele at Groppoli, 5 the faces of which represent, in low reliefs
1 The date 1166 and the sculptor's name are inscribed. Both are cor
rectly given in MOBRONA, Pisa Illustrate, (Livorno, 1812), vol. ii., 'p. 33.
[The inscription shows us that Gruamons was assisted by his* 'brother
Adeodato. Of. VENTUBI, op. tit., vol. iv., and RAYMOND, Le Sculpture Floren
tine ; Lea Prfflecesseurs de Fecole Florentine . . . (Florence, 1897).]
^ 2 [MonBONA, op. oit., vol. ii, p. 37, gives the sculptor's name in the in
scription as Rodolfin or Rodolfinus.]
3 Signed : " HOC OPUS QUOD CEBNIS BIDUINUS DOCTE PEBEGIT. UNDEGIES
CENTUM ET OCTOGINTA POST ANNI TEMPOBE QUO DEUS, EST IXUXEBANT DE
VIBGINE NATUS." MOBBONA, ubi sup., vol. ii., p. 39.
* His font is inscribed : *' MILL . . . E CLI ROBEBTUS MAOIST ..."
5 Now the oratory of the Villa Dalpino five miles on the' road from
Pistoia to Pescia.
SCULPTURE IN CENTRAL ITALY 97
of soft stone, incidents from the New Testament. 1 A mutilated
inscription may still be read as follows :
HOC OPUS FECIT FIERI HOC OPUS [sic] GUISCARDUS
PLEB ANNO DNI MIL. CLXXXXIIII. 2
Defective as those of Gruamons at S. Andrea, the figures of
Groppoli are cut into the flat without any sort of rounding. The
incidents are in the old traditional forms, but represented by one
living in the infancy of art. The figures, like slender dolls, have
draperies marked by rectangular or circular incisions. The flat
square heads form but one plane with the neck. The limbs hang,
as it were by threads, together, the features being merely scratched
on the surface. 3
About the close of the twelfth century, Bonamico seems to have
been extensively employed at Pisa. Bas-reliefs that may be
assigned to him, on the curved cornice or frieze of the east gate of
the Baptistery, represent the Redeemer, the Virgin, and S. John,
with apostles and angels. 4 The same flat surface, the same forms
indicated by incisions, may be noted here as at Groppoli ; and
perfect identity of style with that of a tomb in the Campo Santo,
reveals the artist, whose name is inscribed there :
OPUS QUOD VIDETIS BONUSAMICUS FECIT P. EO OBATE. 5
A life-size figure in a niche of the Duomo, near the gate of S.
Raineri, exhibits the same style and manner. Yet it may be
observed that the figures of Bonamico are shorter and stouter than
those of Groppoli. 6 That this sculptor lived at the close of the
twelfth century is apparent from the resemblance of his work to
others of that time. The Baptistery of Pisa was founded in 1153 7
1 The Visitation, the Nativity, and the Flight into Egypt. A serpent
at one of the angles supports the desk. The pulpit rests on columns whose
capitals are filled with heads of animals and monsters, whose bases rest on
the backs of lions. Of the latter, on/> rjaws a man, the other a dragon.
2 CIAMPI, op. cit., p. 28, gives w inscription minus the word " Guis-
cardus." / pt_>
a An archangel killing the dragon, of old above the portal and now
transferred into the church, is an example of the same style.
- 4 Half-lengths.
5 This tomb, to the left of the entrance in the Campo Santo, is carved
with the Saviour enthroned, in the act of benediction, in an elliptical glory,
the symbols of the four Evangelists, and the Lamb and star. Beneath is
a figure of David playing, not intended for this tomb, but by the same hand.
6 The annotatocs of Vasari cite an inscription in the church of Mensano
near Siena -as follows : " AGI/A. OPUS QXJOD VIDETIS BONUS AMICUS MAGISTBK
FECIT. PRO EO OHETIS."
7 As appears from Sardo's Chron. in Archivio Slorico, vol. iv., p. 83, with
funds in part granted by Roger, King of Sicily by Deotisalvi, as is vouched
I. G
98 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
and remained Incomplete till 1278. It may therefore be inferred
that Bonamico was one of the first artists employed there.
A better sculptor, but still of feeble powers, was Bonanno, who
executed in the Duomo of Pisa, in 1180, bronze gates which perished
in the sixteenth century, 1 and, in 1186, those which still close the
portal of the Duomo at Monreale. 2 These gates represent in high
relief forty-three scenes of the Old and New Testaments, and appear
from a comparison with Ciampini's engravings of those of Bonanno
at Pisa, to have been cast in the same mould. Nor can any sensible
difference be perceived between these and the gates of the south
transept of the Duomo of Pisa. 3 Various and sometimes ludicrous
are the conjectures of historians respecting the origin or authorship
of the latter. All agree in considering their sacred subjects in
high relief as grotesque and exaggerated. 4 Yet they are less
defective than the reliefs of Gruamons or Biduino, and cannot be
of an earlier period than the middle of the twelfth century. The
date may indeed be defined almost with certainty by observing
the mode in which the Crucifixion was represented. The Saviour
was exposed on the Cross with a nail to each foot. The body was
slightly bent and the head inclined towards the Virgin, standing at
the base of the instrument of death. The eyes were closed. The
Redeemer on the Cross was never depicted with closed eyes in
the eleventh century. At S. Urbano in Rome, and S. Angelo-in-
Eormis, He may be seen alive and serenely suffering. It was not
till the twelfth century, as at S. Clemente (Rome), that the idea
of agony and death was expressed. The south gate of the Duomo
of Pisa may therefore be assigned to that time and to Bonanno,
who thus appears as an artist continuing and but slightly improving
the art of sculpture, as it found expression in Pistoia. 5
for by the following inscription on a pilaster : " M.cLm. MENSE ATO. FUND ATA
ptnT KEG ECCLESIA," and on an opposite one : " DEOTISALVI MAGISTER
HUJUS OPERIS." Of the same architect is S. Sepolcro of Pisa, inscribed on
a marble, " HTTJUS OPERIS FABRICATOR DS TE SALVET NOMINATUS,."
1 The gates of Bonanno were dated 1180. They perished in a fire,
October 25 (Pis. style), 1596. MORRONA, ubi sup., vol. 1, p. 169-70,
2 The gates of the Duomo of Monreale by Bonanno are inscribed :
" MCXXXXVI. IND. m. BONANSTTJS civis PisANUS ME KECiT." They represent
thirteen scenes from Genesis, seven from the patriarchs and prophets, twenty-
three from the New Testament.
8 Called gates of S. Raineri.
* MORRONA, whose patriotism cannot be denied, vol. i., p. 314-15.
& Bonanno may be the same who, in 1152 to 1164, gave designs for the
walls of Pisa (see MTTRATORI). The subjects on this gate are : the Annuncia
tion, the Visitation, the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, the
Presentation in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt, the Massacre of the
Innocents, the Baptism of Christ, the Temptation, the Transfiguration, the
SCULPTURE IN CENTRAL ITALY 99
With scarcely perceptible progress, sculpture was practised in
Parina at the close of the twelfth century (1178-96) by Benedictus, 1
respecting whom the reader may study the following excerpt :
On the pilasters and lunette of the northern gate in the Baptistery
of Parma, he carved the roots of Jesse and of Joachim, and scenes from
the life of the Saviour and S. John the Baptist. 2 On the pilasters of
the eastern gate, the Seven Works of Mercy, the parable of the Labourers
in the Vineyard ; on the architrave, the Resurrection, and in the lunette,
the Last Judgment ; on the third gate a medallion of the Saviour in
benediction, with the Lamb and S. John the Baptist at His sides ; and
in the lunette, the Trees of Good and Evil, and allegorical subjects ; in
the body of the building various episodes. His name was carved on
the architrave of the northern gate : " BIS BINIS DEMPTIS ANNIS DE
MILLE DUCENTIS INCEPIT DICTUS OPUS JHOC SCULPTOE BENEDICTUS."
All these reliefs are in the manner of Benedictus, whose works
in the Duomo deserve greater attention, and may serve as a better
illustration of his manner. He executed in 1178 a Descent from the
Cross in the third chapel to the right of the chief entrance in the
Duomo. Without shrinking from the apparent difficulty of the task,
he executed this work in high relief similar to that of the bronze gates
at Pisa, and crowded together about twenty-two figures within a
frame cut out in patterns filled up with black. Traces of gold and
colour on some of the figures reveal the custom of colouring carved
work, common to most countries of the Continent at this and a later
time. The Saviour, a long wooden form cut into the flat with scarcely
any rounding, was supported tenderly by Joseph of Arimathsea, whilst
the right arm, freed from the Cross, was held by the Virgin and an
angel in a horizontal flying position. Between the Virgin and Joseph,
a figure holding a cup and gathering the blood from the Saviour's side,
was inscribed " ECCLESIA EXALTATUR." Behind the Virgin, S. John,
whose melancholy resignation was not ill rendered, and the three
Maries, completed the composition. The feet of the Saviour were
still separately nailed to the Cross, as well as the left arm, which
Nicodemus on a ladder was in the act of removing. At the foot of
the Cross, a priest with drooping head seemed crushed by the hand of
the angel Raphael flying horizontally and reproaching him in the words
of the inscription, " VEEE ISTE FILIUS DEI ERAT." Near the priest
is the centurion who believed, and a row of persons, in front of whom
the dicers are playing for the garment. The figure of the Saviour,
Kesurrection of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Washing of the
Feet, the Last Supper, the Capture, the Crucifixion, the Descent to Limbo,
Christ at the Sepulchre, the Ascension, and the Death of the Virgin.
1 [Benedetto Antelami, cf. BUBCKHABDT, op. cit. t siib nom. ; REYMONB,
op. cit., pp. 39-43 ; and VENTUHI, op. cit., vol. iii., p. 294 et seq. ; and inscrip
tion on his work in the third chapel in north aisle of cathedral of Parma,
given on p. 100 infra.]
2 In the Baptism the Saviour and S. John are both concealed up to the
middle by a mere wave.
100 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
wooden, and indicated in the nude by mere linear incisions, was not
so long or ill-proportioned as those around Him ; nor was the head as
repulsive as many of the period, but the closed eyes and the contracted
brow indicated the agony endured. The angels, in horizontal positions,
did not in the least produce the impression of flight. Their heads were,
like those of the remaining figures, large. The draperies were straight
and meaningless, and the embroidered borders and slippers were incisions
stopped with colour. 1
This primitive but curious work, exhibiting merely so much
progress in art as might serve to place Benedictus on a level with
Bonamico and somewhat above Gruamons and the sculptor of
Groppoli, was inscribed :
ANNO MILLENO CENTENO SEPTUAGENO OCTAVO SCULTOR PATUIT
MENSE SECUKDO ANTELAMI DICTUS SCULPTOR FUIT HIC BENEDICTUS. 2
Years continued to elapse, and sculpture remained almost in its
primitive state. In Lucca, the front of the church of S. Martin
was completed in 1204 by one Guidectus, who perhaps excelled
Benedictns in the proportions of his long figures, in rendering
movement and draperies, and defining the nude. Yet in a figure
in high relief of S. Martin on horseback dividing his garment, great
rudeness of execution still remained. 3 Later works in the portico
of the same church, representing scenes from the life of S. Martin,
1 The inscriptions are interesting. The high priest whose head droops
beneath the touch of Gabriel is inscribed : " SINAGOQA DEPONITUK." The
figure drawing the nail of the left arm is inscribed " NICODEMUS," that of
the figure supporting the body, "JOSEPH AB ARIMATHEA." The figure
gathering the blood from the lance wound is " JOHANNES NAZARENUS,"
the Virgin, " s. MARIA," the Maries, "SALGME, MARIA JACOBI, MARIA
MAGDALENE." The sun and moon above the Cross are inscribed "SOL ET
LUNA." The Cross is of rough unhewn logs.
2 A pulpit in S. Leonardo, near the Porta S. Miniato at Florence, still
exists, of w hich FORSTER (Beitrage, ubi sup., p. 13) gives an accurate
description. It was of old in S. Pietro di Scheraggio at Florence. One of
its bas-reliefs is a Descent from the Cross, whose composition is not unlike
that of Benedictus of Parma. Forster's theory, that this pulpit, being
executed at Florence, proves the existence of a school from which Niccola
arose, is untenable. RUMOHR, noticing this pulpit, assigns it to the ninth
or tenth century (Forschungen, vol. i., p. 252). A print of the bas-reliefs
may be seen in RIOHA, Chiese, vol. ii, p. 18. The author affirms that the
reliefs were originally taken in the eleventh century from the captured
Fiesole.
3 An inscription: "MILLE QUE SEX DENIS TEMPLUM FUNDAMHSTE JACTO
LUSTRO SUBBING SACRUM STAT FINE PERAOTO " shows that this church was
founded in 1060.
On the front beneath the last column to the right of the gallery, a figure
holds a scroll on which is written : " MILLE coini. CONDIDIT ELECTI TAM
PULCRAS DEXTRA GUIDEC03." Guidectus is the architect and probably also
the sculptor of the front.
SCULPTURE IN CENTBAL ITALY 101
allegories of the Seasons, the Saviour in glory guarded by two
angels, the Virgin and the twelve apostles on the architrave, showed
that, as late as 1233, sculpture must still make a weary progress
before it could be entitled to serious admiration. 1
Still later a sculptor of Pisa adorned the pilasters and architrave
of the eastern gate of the Baptistery with scenes from the Old and
New Testaments, 2 the composition of which contrasted advan
tageously with those of Bonamico on the frieze above them.
The figures were distinguished by a certain movement and anima
tion, by good proportion in their slenderness, and by fairly intended
draperies. The principal one of the Saviour in benediction was not
without dignity, and was technically superior in design to the Saviour
above the portico of S. Martin of Lucca. In the accompanying Seasons,
the incidents were conceived with spirit, and the nude recalled the
antique. It was a work which could not date earlier than the middle
of the thirteenth century, yet how distant from those of Niccola of
the very same time. Not only were the conception and execution,
compared to his, rude and primitive ; but, as in all the works of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries previously noticed, the creation of
men of a different spirit and school.
But even in 1250, Guido da Como, who executed the pulpit of
S. Bartolommeo-in-Pantano at Pistoia, showed himself little better
as a sculptor than Benedictus of Parma, Bonamico of Pisa, or
Guidectus of Lucca. Guido's composition was symmetrical, his
forms and types animated with a gentle religious spirit, but his
figures had repose approaching to immobility. They were long
and slender in stature, and carved on the flat with little more art
than those of Groppoli. Yet feeble as his talent appears, Guido
never wanted employment, and took rank as late as 1293 amongst
those who laboured in the cathedral of Orvieto. 3
1 The following inscription is in the portico : " HOC OPUS CEPIT FIERI
ABELENATO ET AUDEBRANDO OPEHABU A.D. 1233.*'
2 On the pilasters the Saviour in glory, with incidents of Kis life, con
cluding with His visit to Limbo, and a figure of David, the Seasons, in a
winding ornament ; on the architrave the Sermon of S. John the Baptist,
the same before Herod, the Dance before Herodias, and the Decapitation.
3 Vasari does not hesitate to call the works of Guido da Como r " goffe "
(grotesque). VAS., tM sup., vol. L, p. 283. See DELLA VAUJE, Stor. del
Duomo d? Orvieto, p. 263.
The pulpit of S. Bartolommeo-in-Pantano is quadrangular and of beau
tifully polished white marble. It stands in the chanting loft, and is supported
on three pillars, the capitals of which are adorned with small figures, whilst
the pediments rest on a winged lion, a lioness, and a man, the first gnawing
a basilisk, the second accompanied by her cub. The Annunciation and the
Adoration of the Magi adorn the sides, and in the front are the Nativity,
the Presentation in the Temple, Christ at Emmaus, his Descent to limbo,
102 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
Pages have been written to support or to refute the contrary
theories that Pisan art before A.D. 1250 was infantine or decrepit,
but the contest rests on a simple and admitted fact ; and it may
be sufficient to observe that Pisan art was rude and primitive;
that in the earliest works of Pistoia, sculpture was homely in con
ception and childish in execution ; that in Parma and Lucca,
though still rude and defective, it had a conventional Christian
spirit ; and that in the early part of the thirteenth century, it
maintained that spirit at Pisa without any very sensible progress
in the expression of form. Such was the character of sculpture
when, in 1260, Niccola Pisano completed the pulpit of the Baptistery
of Pisa.
This remarkable monument, erected in the form of a hexagon,
rested upon nine columns ; viz. one, central, based on the shoulders of
a man, a griffin, and animals, quaintly grouped together, three reposing
on the backs of lions and a lioness with her cubs, three on simple pedi
ments, and two supporting the steps. A trefoil arch spanned the
space between each of the six principal pillars ; and pilasters starting
from the capitals regulated the ornamented cornice of the pulpit.
In front of each of these pilasters stood a statue symbolising one of
the Virtues. Fortitude was represented by a figure of the juvenile
Hercules with a lion's cub on his right shoulder and his left hand in
his Appearance to the Disciples, and the Incredulity of S. Thomas. Three
figures on one pedestal support the desk at one angle of the pulpit, and at
the opposite one stands an angel with a book resting on the head of a horned
monster, with the eagle above him.
On the border is the following inscription :
GUIDO DE COMO ME CUNOTIS CARMINE PROMO, ANNO DOMINI 1250.
EST OPERI SANTJS STJPERESTANS TURRISIANUS NAMQTJE
FIDE PRONA VIGIL . . . DEUS INDE CORONA.
The figures on the angles are better than the rest and a certain inferiority
may be noticed in the execution of the two side reliefs as well as in the
Nativity and the Incredulity of S. Thomas ; but the pulpit, as a monument
of sculpture, cannot hold a high rank amongst the productions of the
thirteenth century. See also for comparison the bas-reliefs with short, large-
headed figures on the front of the Duomb of Modena, representing Enoch
and Elias with the following inscriptions between them : " INTER SCULTORES
QtTANTO SIS DIGNTTS CLARET SCULTT7RA NTJNC HONORE WILIGELME TtTA " ;
the still ruder sculptures on the Roman Gate at Milan erected after the defeat
of Frederick II. at Milan and inscribed " GERARDUS DE CASTAGNIANEGA
FECIT HOG OPTJS," the prophets above the portal of the cathedral of Cremona
by " MAGISTER JACOBUS PORRATA DE cuMis " 1274. Anselmo da Campione
was architect and sculptor in the Duomo of Modena in 1209. CALVI, M emorie
(Milan, 1859). See also the rude sculptures on the cathedral of Verona
inscribed: " ARTIFICEM GNARTTM QUI SCTOPSERIT BUEC NICOLATJM. Htnsrc CON-
ctrRRBNTES LATJDENT PER SECTJLA GENTES." The same epigraph with the
date 1 135 marks the period of similar work on the Duomo of Ferrara. The
oldest known sculptor of Siena is Gregorius, whose name and the date 1209
according to MELANESI (Storia Owile ed Artistica di Siena t ubi sup., p. 76),
were on sculptures above the portal of S. Giorgio of Siena.
NICCOLA PISANO 103
the moutli of a slain lion ; Fidelity by a female holding a dog in her
arms ; Charity by a woman with an infant. Of other figures, the
emblematic meaning was less apparent. For instance, at the angle
near the steps, an angel was represented sitting on a lion with a deer
in its teeth. In one hand, he bore the stump of a sceptre, in the other
a small bas-relief of the Crucifixion. Possibly this was intended for
the symbol of Faith. In the births of the arches four Evangelists and
six prophets were ingeniously placed. Seven triple columns supported
the parapet of the pulpit, and framed five bas-reliefs representing the
Birth of the Saviour, the Adoration of the Wise Men, the Presentation
in the Temple, the Crucifixion, and the Last Judgment,
In these bas-reliefs Niccola displayed but elementary knowledge
of the maxims of composition. In one of the subjects, that of the
Adoration of the Magi a certain symmetry might be found, but
elsewhere all equilibrium of mass was absent. Yet in the midst
of an obvious imitation of the antique, and subservience of pagan
models to Christian subjects and thought, Niccola showed himself
gifted with a lively fancy, a considerable talent in the expression
of the ruder forms of passion, such as despair, anger. But this
peculiarity, contrasting with a certain cold and imperfect imitation
of old classic models, could not but unfavourably impress the
spectator, especially when he considered the short and herculean
build of the figures. Niccola, however, with an energy and vigour
beyond praise, seemed resolved to allow no difficulty to repel him.
He chiselled his figures in the highest possible relief, detached them
completely, and followed without hesitation the old Roman system
of sculpture. He polished the marble with most praiseworthy
care, working it out according to a cold, conventional, but un
wavering system. With the drill, he cut out the corners of mouths,
the pupils of eyes, the nostrils and ears, and stopped the perfora
tions with black paste. The hair and ornaments he gilt; and
traces of the gold are still in parts visible. None of the com
positions of the pulpit more strikingly illustrates the system of
classic imitation peculiar to Niccola than that of the Birth of the
Saviour. In the middle of the space, the Virgin, recumbent on a
couch, would be a fit representation of the queenly Dido, and the
figure behind, pointing to her with a gesture and apparently con
versing with an angel, is more like an empress than the humble
follower of a carpenter's wife in Bethlehem ; Joseph, with an air of
wonder, the two classic maids washing the Infant in a basin, the
sheep on the foreground, and the episode of the Adoration of the
Shepherds, crowded in the right of the background, are a strange
104 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
and confused medley of antique forms and old typical Christian
conceptions of subject. Of Christian sentiment not a trace is to
be found. In the symmetrical arrangement of the Adoration of
the Magi the florid Roman style of the figures is most characteristic ;
but the irregular proportion of the figures, as compared with each
other, is striking. The heads are uncommonly large, especially
in the more distant figures. The angels are not messengers of
heaven but Roman antiques, and the horses are equally reminiscent
of the old times of the declining empire. In the Presentation in
the Temple, the simple groups and figures are mere imitations also ;
whilst in the Crucifixion, the body of the martyred Redeemer
reminds one of nothing more than of a suffering Hercules. In the
Last Judgment, which is the finest of the series, Niccola's vigour
and energy found play. In the upper centre the Saviour sat
enthroned in a fine attitude, beneath Him the elect, the damned,
resurrection, and Lucifer. It would be difficult to find a better
imitation of the classic nude in various attitudes than is here to be
noticed, especially in females. Strange are the figures of the devils
and of Satan ; the latter with a grotesque head and ears, the body
and claws of a vulture united to legs resembling those of an ox.
Equally so is the figure of a devil with the body of an infant and a
head as large as the torso, revealing the features of one of those
hideous masks peculiar to antiquity. This curiously conceived
devil seems to swallow one of the arms of a sufferer convulsed with
agony, as he lies trodden down by the claws of Satan. The same
study of the classic was betrayed in all the isolated figures, such as
those at the angles below the cornice of the pulpit. In the sym
bolical figure of Fortitude, the movement and attitude and the
short stout form recalled the antique, an antique of a coarse and
fleshy character, but conventional and motionless. 1
Niccola thus suddenly appears in Pisa in the year 1260 as one
who, rejecting the conventional religious sentiment which had
marked his predecessors and contemporaries, revived the imitation
of the classic Roman period, and remained a mere spectator at
first of the struggle for the new and Christian types of the early
school of Florence. Grand in comparison with Guido and his
predecessors, whose religious sentiment was allied to the rudest and
1 " This pulpit suffered a few years ago a serious and memorable damage,
the heads of many figures having been broken on 5 by Lorenzino de' Medici
... to embellish and adorn his study." KONCIONI, Istorie Pisane, of the
sixteenth century, published by Francesco Bonaini in Archiv. Storico (Flor.,
1844), vol. vi., p. 284.
NICCOLA PISANO 105
most primitive execution, lie gave new life to an apparently extinct
art, and had in common with the men of his time at Pisa nothing
but the subject. Pagan form subservient to Christian ideas, such
was the character of Niccola' s sculpture. To nature he owed little,
to the Roman antique much, and hence occasional stiffness and
coldness. In general expression, the idea of tenderness was
sacrificed to that of masculine force and muscular fleshiness of
knit. In form, the stout square herculean type of the Roman
decline, somewhat conventionally generalised, was that which
he preferred. Even his fancy and occasional vehemence in the
delineation of suffering and pain, were imitated from the antique
more than from nature, and the heads of his devils or of Lucifer
were but the grotesque masks of antiquity. In composition, the
equilibrium of the masses was seldom attended to or considered.
In execution, the figures were detached and modelled like those
of ancient Rome ; the marble was highly polished and worked
with technical skill, but less in obedience to inspiration than
to rule.
The astonished observer pauses before this wonderful pro
duction of the thirteenth century, and asks whence the artist came. 1
His memory may retrace the wonders of the chisel of Michael
Angelo, and he may assent for a moment to the belief that Niccola,
a miracle at his time, was a creative genius capable at once of
transforming the art of Pisa. But this impression vanishes with
the conviction that he is not a creative genius, and the recollection
that the works of Michael Angelo in their grandeur still reveal
also the greatness of Ghirlandaio and Donatello. The Ghirlandaio
and Donatello of Niccola he cannot discover in any of the schools
of Central Italy, any more than he can trace a single similar work
previous to this pulpit, which is the creation of a man in the
maturity of his talent. He will inquire, if it be possible that all
previous efforts of the master should have perished, and he will
smile at the baseless theory, which would found his style upon the
imitation of a single classic monument of Pisa. 2 He may then
1 Vasari, having said in the life of Niccola that that sculptor studied
at Pisa, affirms in that of Giovanni that he studied in Rome (vol. i, p. 277).
[Of. VENTUBI, op. cit., vol. iv., p. 1 et seg., and IDEM, II Oenio di Niccola
Pisano in Rivista d Italia, vol. i (1898).]
2 According to VAS. (ubi sup., vol. i., 258-9), Niccola, having studied
under Greek sculptors in the Duomo and Baptistery of Pisa, imitated the
chase of Meleager carved on the tomb of the Countess Matilda in the Campo
Santo. The chase of Meleager is a damaged monument of the decline of
classic art. Vasari errs in supposing that it is on the tomb of the Countess
Matilda, this monument having also reliefs, but of another subject.
106 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
either consign the problem to the limbo of unsettled questions or
conclude that the artist received his education elsewhere.
Pisa lies on the sea. She commanded in the thirteenth century
the trade of the west coast of Italy. She had fought and made
alliances with the Normans of Sicily and Apulia, and she was the
protector of some amongst the small trading republics at the
southern extremity of the Peninsula. Her population was some
times recruited by emigrants from the most distant parts of the
South, and amongst these in the thirteenth century was perhaps
one Peter of Apulia, the father of Niccola, known to the readers of
Vasari as the Pisan. That Niccola became a citizen of Pisa, and
lived in the parish of S. Blasius of Ponte di Pisa, is proved by records
of certain authenticity. That his father Pietro di Apulia was dead
in 1266 is equally certain, 1 but no document reveals either his
previous age, profession, or habitation.
It might be presumed from the absence of all productions due
to Niccola, before 1260, as well as from the evident uncertainty
of Vasari's notices, that the sculptor had not been long in Pisa
before producing the pulpit of S. Giovanni. The question which
remains to be answered is simply, whether in South Italy, and
namely in Apulia, there was an art superior to that of Pisa. 2 It
has already been proved that in Sicily and on the south coast,
mosaists of superior talents had been found by the Normans in
sufficient number to adorn in the twelfth century many splendid
edifices. It is equally curious and interesting to find that sculpture
in South Italy was still at a high standard in the thirteenth. At
Ravello near Amalfi a trading republic devoted to Pisa the
cathedral of S. Pantaleone possesses a pulpit resting on columns
1 See RXTMOHR, Forschungen, voL ii., p. 145 and following, and GAETANO
MILANESI, Documenti per la Storia delV Arte Senese, (Siena, 1854), vol. i.,
p. 145 and following. In the records Niccola is called variously : 1266 :
** Magister Niccolus de parrocia S. Blasii de ponte de Pisis quond. Petri
Nic
vol. 1, p. 145). . . . 1266, May 11: "Magister Nicolam Pietri
de Apulia" (Ibid., p. 149). 1272: " Magister Nichola pisanus quondam
Petri de." An interesting question is, whether the name of the place, as
Apulia, applies to Niccola or to his father. It has been assumed indeed, and
we have heard it urged with reference to the surname of Apulia, that Niccola,
being originally a Pisan, obtained it after a journey and a stay in South
Italy. Yet the first work produced by him at Pisa is in the style of produc
tions existing in Apulia.
* It may be inferred from Vasari himself, that in South Italy there were
some very remarkable architects. The fabulous Fuccio, " a Florentine
architect and sculptor," whom he invented, is considered by him to have
completed some great monuments ; such as Castel di Capoana and the Castel
del Uovo at Naples, the foundation of which was due to the equally fabulous
Buono the gates by the Volturno at Capua, and the walls of the hunting
park at Amalfi (VAS., p. 262, vol. i.).
NICCOLA PISANO 107
borne by lions. The steps which lead up to the desk support a
marble balustrade inlaid with mosaics ; and above the arch leading
into the pulpit is a Latin inscription recording that Nicol6 Rufolo
commissioned it in 1272 of Nicholas de Bartolommeus de Foggia.
The key of the arch of the doorway is a fine classical bust of
Sigalgaita Rufolo, of life size, in a diadem from which hangs a long
rich tassel. Her hair, divided and gracefully twined along the
ears, exposes a fine forehead and a face of oval shape. The brow
and eyes are noble, the nose regular, and the features elegantly
chiselled and broadly carved. The neck is massive. Nicholas de
Bartolommeus of Foggia evidently studied the antique like his
contemporary Niccola at Pisa, and perhaps better models. The
two styles are essentially similar. The marble has the same high
polish and technical execution. The use of the drill is common
to both, on the capitals of the door are other portraits, one a male
profile, less happily rendered, but still of the same hand. Had not
the name of Nicholas been united to that of Bartolommeo of Foggia,
thereby proving the existence of two contemporary sculptors of
different families, the busts of Ravello and the pulpit of Pisa might
have been assigned to one hand. Foggia was in the thirteenth
century the ordinary residence of the Emperor Frederick II.
Delia Valle, in his Lettere Sanesi, 1 devotes two chapters to prove
that monarch's patronage of art, and mentions coins of his reign
as worthy of serious admiration. His palace at Foggia was erected
in 1223, and on the solitary arch of it which now remains may be
read the following inscription :
ANNO AB INCARNATIONS MCCXXin M. JUNII XI. IND. REG.
D&0 S FREDERICO IMPERATORI REX SEP. AUG. A IH. ET
REGIS SICILI.3B XXVI. HOC OPUS EELICITER INCEPTUM PPHATO
Dffo PERFICIENTE.
SIC CESAR FIERI JUSSIT OPUS PTO [IPRECEPTO] BARTOLO-
MEUS SIC CONSTRUXIT ILLUD. 2
Bartolommeus, the architect of Foggia, may possibly be the
father of Nicholas the sculptor of the pulpit of Ravello.
The pulpit is not the sole monument in S. Pantaleone. Of equal
interest though of an earlier time are the bronze gates, in com
partments, representing subjects from the Passion of the Saviour,
1 BELLA VALUE, Lettere Sanesi, vol. i., p. 205 and following.
2 It is amusing to find BELLA VAXLE, Lettere Sanesi, vol. ii., p. 20, change
the words TO into Pis. in order to prove that Bartolommeo of Foggia is
the same as Bartolommeus Pisanus, a bell-founder at Pisa in the thirteenth
century. This theme MOR&ONA (Pisa ILlust., vol. ii., p. 97) extensively
develops.
108 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
executed, as appears from the inscription, for Sergio Muscetola and
his wife Sigelgaita in 1179. 1 The compositions of these gates are
those of the early Christian time, but well ordered as to space,
and filled with animated figures of somewhat slender forms. In
character they recall to mind the fine mosaics of Cefalu and Palermo,
and exhibit the same moving principle in the artist. Gates from
the same casts may be seen at Monreale, rivalling those of Bonanno,
and signed by the artist, whose name is inscribed "BABISANUS
TRANENSIS ME FECIT." At Trani itself is a third edition of them, 2
and thus in South Italy, as early as the twelfth century, and three
years earlier than Bonanno, a sculptor of Trani is traced, who
so far surpasses the Pisan that one might say his art is new and
admirable. Trani, Foggia, both in Apulia, seem to have had
good and intelligent artists in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,
sculptors in every sense superior to those of Pisa, 3 and one of them,
Nicholas di Bartolommeo, so like Niccola of Pisa in style that
their works may be confounded. It is therefore neither contrary
to fact nor to experience to suppose that Niccola of Pisa was a born
Apulian, and that he was educated in that country. It might
be urged indeed that in the inscription of the pulpit of Pisa he is
called Pisanus, but every citizen had a right to that qualification
after he had taken the freedom. It might be argued that Nicholas
of Foggia was a pupil of Niccola of Pisa ; but if so, might it not be
natural to expect that history should record his presence elsewhere
than in the South of Italy, where his work is alone preserved, and
would not his style have made a nearer approach to the later one
of Giovanni ?
It is a remarkable circumstance that one of the earliest works
which Vasari attributes to Niccola Pisano is the tomb of S. Domenico
1 Here the Saviour Deposed from the Cross, and the Christ at the Limbo
are counterparts of the same scenes repeated in contemporary miniatures and
paintings. The Saviour is crucified with the feet separately nailed, as usual
up to this time.
2 The gates at Monreale are divided into seven courses of four com
partments separated from each other by somewhat heavy ornaments con
taining medallions with semi-figures. The two central upper compartments
contain the same figure of the Saviour, with S. John on the left and S. Elias
on the right. The four next subjects are the Crucifixion, the Resurrection,
the Virgin and Child, and S. Nicholas. In the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth
are apostles. The seventh course contains a genius, an archer, and the
arms of D. Giovanni di Rohan.
3 There were many monuments of classic art at Naples in the thirteenth
century. Even now see S. Paul of the Theatines rebuilt on the site of a
temple of Castor and Pollux, the antique lower course and statues being
preserved with figures of Apollo, Jupiter, Mercury, and what not at Paestum,
Reggio, Locri, Sibari, Tarentum, Brindisi, Elis, Baise, Pozzuoli.
NIOCOLA PISANO 109
at Bologna, executed, he says, in the year 1231, 1 but which was
only completed in 1266-7 by Fra Guglielmo. No records have
ever confirmed the biographer's assertions respecting the erection
or remodelling, in the earlier part of the century, of edifices in
divers parts of Italy by Niccola Pisano, 2 whilst in many instances
these assertions have been positively contradicted. The oldest
records of the Duomo of Siena (1229) 3 make no mention of Niccola
Pisano as being present at the foundation of that edifice ; and,
as the annotators of the edition of Vasari sensibly affirm, the
biographer, after having stated that fact, contradicts himself
when he afterwards declares that the Sienese commissioned of
him the pulpit of their Duomo because " the fame of that of Pisa "
had reached them. 4 The fame of Niccola would have been great
long before the year 1260, had he, as a Pisan, executed the numerous
w r orks which are assigned to him previous to that date. It was
on the fifth of October that he signed a contract in the Baptistery
of Pisa, where he was then apparently employed, with Fra Melano,
supervisor or operarius of the cathedral of Siena, 5 by which he bound
himself to the following conditions :
Firstly : That he should, between October and the November next
following, deliver at Siena eleven columns of white marble with the
necessary capitals, and sixteen smaller pillars and slabs for the erection
of a pulpit in S. Maria. He was also to furnish the lions or pediments,
which probably were to be found ready made at Pisa. Secondly : From
and after the next month of March he was to reside at Siena until
the pulpit was finished, and to accept no other commission ; but lie
was, if he desired it, to have, four times a year, a fortnight's leave to
visit Pisa, either for the purpose of giving counsel in the matter of the
completion of the Duomo and Baptistery there, or for his own business.
Thirdly : In the same month of March he was to bring with Mm to
Siena Ms pupils Arnolfo and Lapo, who were, likewise, bound to remain
at Siena till the pulpit was completed. Fourthly : The price of the
marble columns and slabs was fixed at sixty-five Pisan pounds, the
1 VAS., vol. i., p. 260.
2 Ernst Forster affirms that he saw a record at Pistoia proving that
Niccola worked in the Duomo in 1242, The record itself he does not give.
Was he quite sure of the date ? See Bcitrtige, iM sup., p. 61.
3 RTJMOHB quotes original records of payments for work in the Duomo
of Siena as early as 1229 (Forschungen, ubi sup., vol. ii., p. 124). GAETANO
MILANESI, going back still further, Sulla Storia Civile ed Artistica S&nese
(Siena, 1862), p. 59, notices Bellamino, who in 1198 restored the Fonte
Branda, which was repaired anew in 1248 by Giovanni Stefani, then capo-
maestro of the Duomo.
4 VASARI, vol. i., ann. to p. 266.
6 Vasari erroneously states that Guglielmo Marescotti was podesta of
Siena at this time. See annot. to VAS., vol. i., p. 267.
110 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
daily pay of Niccola at eight, that of his pupils six Pisan " solidos,"
besides bed and lodging. Fifthly : If Johannes, the son of Niccola,
declared himself ready and willing to work under his father, he should
receive half the salary of the latter. Sixthly : None of the sculptors
were to be subject to any real or personal service in the republic of
Siena. Seventhly: Breach of contract on either side was forbidden
under a penalty of 100 Pisan. 1
It was not long before this last clause threatened to become a
serious charge. Arnolfo had not made his appearance in Siena
in May of the following year, and Fra Melano issued a peremptory
injunction to Niccola to fulfil the contract. This done, the pulpit
was commenced, and about November of 1268 completed, Niccola,
Giovanni his son, and Arnolfo, Lapo, Donato and Goro, Florentines,
being employed together in its erection. 2
The pulpit, of octagonal form, rested upon nine columns, four of
which were supported on lions and lionesses, four on simple pediments
and the central one upon a group of nine figures in half relief. Seven
bas-reliefs covered the faces of the pulpit. Firstly: the Nativity.
Secondly : the Adoration of the Magi. Thirdly : the Presentation in
the Temple. Fourthly : the Flight into Egypt. Fifthly : the
Massacre of the Innocents. Sixthly : the Crucifixion. Seventhly : the
Last Judgment.
The Nativity. One of the finest groups in this relief is that of the
women washing the infant Saviour. The latter, however, of a powerful
and bony build, is essentially classic in form.
The Adoration of the Magi. It would be difficult to find a finer
group in this century than that of the Virgin and Child adored by the
kneeling king, who kisses the Saviour's foot. The foreground figures
on horseback seem to be copied from the Eoman antique.
The Presentation in the Temple is ill ordered and over-crowded ; The
Flight into Egypt simple and not ill rendered.
The Massacre of the Innocents. Niccola had an opportunity here
of expressing action in the most varied forms ; and the movement
of single figures is accordingly fine and forcible ; whilst some faces
are remarkable for character and expression. One cannot but mark
in the^ vehemence of gesture of soldiers tearing babes from the grasp
of their mothers, or^in the act of killing them, a certain tendency to
exaggeration. Yet it is obvious that Niccola's treatment of these
groups was of service to later artists and even to Giotto. The Massacre
of the Innocents is, however, a subject in which even the great Florentine
found some difficulty to conciliate action with good distribution, and
1 See the original document in BUMOHB, Forschungen, vol. ii., p. 145 and
following, and MILANESI, Doc. Sen., M sup., vol. L, p. 145 and following
2 RUMOHB, MlDANESI, llbi 8Up.
NICCOLA PISANO 111
Niccola is here less successful in arranging his groups than in the pulpit
of Pisa.
The Crmftxion. The student of Roman classic form will find it
here, but Niccola endeavoured, as it would seem, to combine classicism
and the study of nature ; hence a perceptible want of unity. Not only
was the Christian ideal of the divine nature of the Redeemer absent
from the mind of the sculptor, but he lost the conventional nobleness
of the classic form in a painful realistic study of nature* The Saviour
is here less after the Roman antique than in the pulpit of Pisa, but he
is also worse proportioned. The thorax is that of Hercules, and the
arms disproportionately short. In the group of the fainting Virgin,
to the left of the Cross, the head is painful in expression and large for
the frame, and the draperies are of many and meaningless folds. The
angels about the Saviour's head are short and defective.
The Last Judgment. The same faults mark the Saviour distributing
blessings and curses and the Saviour crucified. Here is little repose
or dignity, but a mixture of conventional classic form with realistic
anatomy. The proportions are defective, but the arms, instead of
being too short, are too long, whilst the torso is small. The angels
around the throne are heavy and colossal. The nude figures in the
foreground, rising from their graves, are presented in various attitudes
and positions to the spectator, and are frequently remarkable for
elastic and natural movement. In the Inferno, Lucifer is again a
monster with the head of a grotesque mask, the ears of a dog, the
horns of a bull, the legs of a vulture, and the talons of a griffin. Double
groups of figures superposed adorn the angles of the pulpit and repre
sent allegorically the Virtues, angels, and scriptural subjects. In the
birth of the trefoil arches are fourteen prophets. But the most
interesting and admirable productions in the whole pulpit are those
which adorn the base of the central octagonal pillar. Here Astronomy
is symbolised by a female holding a book and looking through a level ;
Grammar by one teaching an infant ; Dialectics by an old female
in contemplation ; Rhetoric by a woman wearing a diadem and holding
a book ; Philosophy by one with a cornucopia, from which flames
issue ; Arithmetic by a female writing on a slab, and so with Geometry
and Music. 1 If the allegory be imperfectly conceived, it is less the
fault of the artist than of the person who gave him the subjects. Each
figure as a work of art is fine and in admirable movement.
The inequality which may be traced in the various parts of
this noble monument is perhaps assignable to the diversity of
talent in the pupils employed by Niccola. Still the compositions,
all doubtless by him as director of their joint efforts, betray less
regularity and order in distribution than those of Pisa. The skidy
of the antique which is sufficiently displayed everywhere, was
1 See the dissertation upon the mode of representing the seven sciences
in CIAMPI'S Letters of Gio. Boccacci (Flor., 1827), p. 101 and following.
112 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
varied by an evident reference to nature, and precisely where this
occurred the master's ability was least visible, and he produced
defects of proportion and even of flesh and muscular form. 3 : The
fancy and liveliness of spirit which characterised Niccola at Pisa
were illustrated anew and without repetition at Siena. But though
he now varied his somewhat arbitrary study of the classic with the
imitation of nature, he showed no symptoms of religious feeling,
and his work, fine as it is, remains somewhat cold and classic
in beauty.
Omitting for the present the tomb of S. Domenico, which, as
already remarked, is more properly a monument executed by Fra
GugHelmo, one may trace the hand of Niccola in the beautiful
fountain of Perugia, where, amongst the figures 2 which adorn the
angles of the upper basin, his peculiar style may be noticed, 3 whilst
in the reliefs of the lower basin, the allegories of the seasons, the
sciences and the arts, display the broader style of his son.
Giovanni indeed appears to have overtaken Niccola. In the fountain
of Perugia (1277) he revealed power in distribution, in reproducing
energetic types and chastened movements, and, in the study of
the nude, a genius not merely imitative or realistic, but creative. 4
Father and son worked side by side in more than one great monu
ment in the cities of Italy from the early years when Giovanni, as
a youth, was admitted at a low salary to share the labours of the
pulpit of Siena, to the later ones when the fountain of Perugia was
completed and when S. Margaret of Cortona was restored. 5 The
noblest monument of their chisel, or of their school, the Deposition
from the Cross in the lunette above the portal of S. Martin of
1 [This was not so much " a reference to nature " perhaps as a new
influence a French influence which suddenly appeared in Tuscan sculpture.
The two pulpits are well compared by REYMOND, op. cit. t p. 72 et sec[. A
study of French influence in Tuscan sculpture is badly needed.]
2 One of these figures is now replaced by one quite modern.
3 [<7/. REYMOND in Arch. St. deir Arte (1895), fasc. vi. He attributes
the statuettes to Niccola and the fifty bas-reliefs to Giovanni Pisano or
Arnolfo Fiorentino. See also P. D'AJSTCONA, La Rappresentazioni allegoriche
dclle Arti liberali nel Medio Evo ecc. in VArte, vol. v., fasc. v.-xii.]
4 The inscription on the fountain of Perugia, recovered not long since
from beneath the plaster by Professor Massari, proves that the works up
to 1277 were conducted by Niccola and Giovanni. Arnolfo is not mentioned
in it, though he seems after 1277 to have been released for the completion of
the fountain by Charles I. of Anjou. Annot. to VAS., vol. i., p. 269-70, and
MARIOTTI (A.), Letter e Pittoriche (Perugia, 1788), pp. 24, 25.
5 According to Vasari, Niccola restored the Pieve di Cortona, and founded
the church of S. Margaret in the same city. VAS., ubi sup., vol. i., p. 268.
MORKONA pretends that this was in 1297, yet Niecola had then been dead
some years. He read in the Campanile tho names of " Niccola and
Johannes " j if so the date is false. MORRONA, Pis. Ittust., vol. ii., p. 69.
NICCOLA PISANO 113
Lucca may be admired as the perfection of an art which, developing
itself at Pisa, Siena, and Perugia, seemed at last but to await
Michael Angelo to bring it to perfection. No example of the century
can be said to have combined in the same degree skill in composition
and grouping with boldness of attitude, foreshortening, and vigour
of handling ; a deep study of nature and anatomy with lofty
character and expression.
The body of the Saviour, still supple hi death, had just been taken
from the cross, and was held in the powerful grasp of Joseph of Arima-
thm. On Ms shoulder the head, recumbent on the outstretched arm,
Lung powerless. That arm the Virgin tenderly embraced, whilst
S. John carefully upheld the other. Nicodemus strove to extract the
nail from one of the feet. A youthful soldier near the evangelist, leant
on a stafi and, grasping the hilt of his sword, seemed inspired with the
wish to avenge the cruel agony of the Saviour. At His feet knelt one
with a sponge on a plate waiting for the washing of the body, whilst
behind the Virgin stood two of the Maries. In the Saviour's supple
ness of limb and frame, fine foreshortening, and perfect proportion,
in the figures around, force allied to natural movement, might fetter
the attention of the most careless spectator ; whilst the more critical
observer, remarking a certain squareness of stature and a slight over
charge of drapery, some feebleness of frame and classic imitation
in the females, might point to these as the only defects that could
possibly be noticed. If compared with the earner works of Pisa and
Siena, it would be admitted that the artist had gradually freed him
self from much of that merely imitative character which previously
marked the school, and had given power and animation to figures
by the study of nature ; yet that, to the last, religious sentiment
remained as foreign to his mind as it was later to that of Donatello
or Michael Angelo.
Equally interesting, as a monument of the revival under the
teaching of Niccola and Giovanni, is the tomb of S. Margaret in
the church dedicated to that saint at Cortona, where excellent
distribution of space and grouping, combined with progress in the
rendering of form and varied character in expression or attitudes,
mark one of the finest productions of mixed architecture and
sculpture in the thirteenth century.
The body of the tomb resting on three brackets in the wall of the
door of the sacristy is adorned with four bas-reliefs representing inci
dents from the life of the saint S. Margaret taking the vows receiving
the holy benediction sick in. her cell and on her deathbed after
receiving the sacred oil. Nothing could be finer as regards composition
than these episodes. Beneath the brackets, the miracles of S. Margaret,
I. H
114 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
her cure of the sick and lame, and the casting out of a devil at her
shrine, are represented with equal power and intelligence. Some
shortness and squareness of form may be noticed in figures which are
otherwise of fine proportions and natural attitudes. A slight over
charge of drapery detracts at times from the beauty of the groups,
as in the lunette relief of S. Martin at Lucca ; but the monument as
a whole is one of the great works of Pisan sculpture. On the slab of
the tomb lies the statue of S. Margaret beneath a dais held up by two
angels the whole within a double-pointed trefoil recess, supported
on each side by twisted columns crowned at the pinnacle with statuettes,
and supported in the centre on a bracket leaning upon a figure with
a scroll. An airy lightness in the architecture, a harmonious sub
ordination between it and the sculpture, form, together with the
arrangement and execution of the bas-reliefs, an excellent whole.
Vain is the attempt to ascertain exactly the authors of such
monuments as these. To Niccola nothing can be assigned later
than 1278, 1 at which period he is noted with the fatal quond-am*
but it must not be forgotten that, besides Fra Guglielmo, whose
known works are inferior to those under consideration, Giovanni,
Arnolfo, Lapo and his brothers Donato and Goro, existed and shed
some lustre on the architecture and sculpture of the thirteenth
century.
1 Vasari affirms that Niccola worked in the Badia a Settimo, that he
executed the old Palazzo of the Anziani at Pisa and other palaces and
churches. No records remain to prove or disprove these assertions. The
church of San Michele in Borgo at Pisa is not by Niccola, but by his pupil
Fra Guglielmo. The building of the campanile of S. Nicol& at Pisa is of
uncertain date, and the author not proved to be Niccola. Equally arbitrary
is the assertion that Niccola gave the design of S. Jacopo of Pistoia, this
chapel of the cathedral being of older date, but altered and restored in
different periods (TOLOMEI, Guida di Pistoia, ubi sup., p. 11). He laboured
at S. Jacopo according to CIAMPI, Not. Ined., p. 122, in 1272-3. The Santo
at Padua is not acknowledged as a work of Niccola, though Vasari assigns
it to him (SELVATICO, Guida di Padova ptr^ gli Scienziati). He may be the
architect of the Chiesetta della Misericordia and the church of the Santa
Trinita at Florence ; but the convent of Faenza was only founded in 1281,
previous to which time Niccola died. (Annot. to VAS., vol. i., p. 266.) That
Niccola was not at the foundation of the Dupmo of Siena has been suggested
in the text j and as for the church of S. Giovanni of the same city, it was
not commenced till after 1300. (See proofs in annot. to VAS., vol. i., p. 272.)
There is nothing to prove or disprove the assertion of Vasari as to Niccola
having in 1254 enlarged the Duomo of Volterra (VAS., vol. i. p. 267) ; and
the same may be said as to S. Domenico of Arezzo (ibid., p. 277). Of
Niccola's repairs in S. Domenico at Viterbo and works at Naples, there are
no authentic records.
2 VASABI, vol. i., p. 271. See further the original record of 1284 in
MILANESI, Dot. Sen., vol. i., p. 163, in which he is noted as dead. How
then could Niccola be the author of bas-reliefs in the Duomo of Orvieto,
an edifice only commenced in 1290 ? (VAS., vol. i, p. 268.)
FEA GUGLIELMO 115
Of Arnolfo, who, according to Vasari, was born in 1232 l and
learnt drawing from Cimabue, 2 little more is known than that he
is not the son of Lapo, but of one Cambio of Colle 3 di Val d'Elsa,
that he was a disciple of Niceola, and worked under him at the pulpit
of Siena. Numerous architectural monuments have been assigned
to him ; and there is no doubt that in 1310 he died in possession of
the title and office of chief architect and sculptor of S. Reparata of
Florence. 4 Time has dimmed the lustre of his services as a sculptor ;
and most of the works assigned to him have perished except the
tomb of Cardinal de Braye, executed, according to Delia Valle, in
1280, at S. Domenico of Orvieto. 5 Supported on brackets high
up in the right transept of the church, this monument is, like those
of the Cosmati at Rome, a mixture of mosaic, sculpture, and
architecture. The body of the cardinal lies on the slab of the
sarcophagus, whose sides are adorned with mosaics. A pointed
trefoil tabernacle supported on twisted columns is pointed at the
apex and sides with statuettes of a square Roman build. 6 It might
have been possible to judge of Arnolfo's style, had his work at
S. Paolo, Rome, been preserved. 7 Of Lapo, who likewise aided
Niccola in Siena, the following records are preserved :
1 Vasari complains in the life of Arnolfo that he is unable to discover
the architects of the Certosa of Pavia and the Duomo of Milan. Bonino da
Campione laboured in the Duomo in 1388-93. The Certosa is due to
Bernardo da Venezia in 1396. See CALVI, Noiizie (Milan, 1859).
a VASABI, vol. L, p. 249.
3 GAYE, Carteggio inedito (Flor., 1839), vol. i., p. 445, publishes a record
of April 1, 1300, granting to Arnolfo certain privileges at Florence.
4 See the authentic record of his death, note 2 to p. 255, vol. i., of VASABI,
uM sup. {It has been suggested by FBEY (in MisceUanea Storica delta Val-
delsa, vol. i., fasc. ii., p. 86 et seq.) that Arnolfo di Cambio and Arnolfo
Florentine the pupil of Niccola were two [persons. This has been contested,
and remains apparently unsettled. Vasari says Arnolfo died in 1300, and
gives very precise details for once. Frey has shown that here Vasari is
nearer the truth than his editors, who have read a date in the Necrologio di
S. Reparata following the entry of Arnolfo's death as though it concerned
him.]
5 This tomb, according to DELIA VAT..T.K, Storia del Duomo di Orweto,
p, 248, was inscribed " HOC OPUS FECIT ABNOLFUS."
ft Vasari does not say that Arnolfo was employed in South Italy. Yet he
was not unknown to Charles I. of Anjou, who, in a letter dated September
1277, recommends him to the authorities of Perugia as Magister Arnulfus
de Florentia, and one of ability to continue the works of the fountain which
had been all but finished by Niccola and Giovanni. MABIOTTI, Lettere, vbi
su P-> PP- 24 25 ? BICHA, Chiese, torn, vi, p. 17 ; KUMOHR, Forschungen,
vol. ii., p. 155.
7 Here he executed the dais of the high altar, with four statues upon
it of Peter, Paul, and two other apostles. " Somewhat short in build but
fine," according to Bumohr. The following inscription was on this work,
which perished in 1823: "HOC OPUS FECIT ARNOLFUS, CUM socio PETKO.
ANTtfO MILLENO CENTUM BIS ET OCTUAGENO QUINTO, SUMME DS = Q, HIC ABBAS
116 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
In company of his brothers Donato and Goro, he petitioned
for and obtained the freedom of the city of Siena in 1271-2 ; and
the records which authenticate that circumstance prove further
that the father of the family was Ciuccio di Ciuto of Florence.
In 1284 Lapo was architect of S. Angelo in Colle ; and in 1289 he
was deputed by the government of Siena to destroy the property
of the Cacciaconti. 1 Donato was in 1277 superintendent of the
works at the bridge of Foiano on the Merse, 2 and employed at
the Fontebranda outside Siena. 3 Goro repaired in 1306 the
fountain of Follonica, 4 and brought up three sons, Neri, Ambrogio,
and Goro, in his profession. Of their works in sculpture no trace
remains.
Fra Guglielmo, apparently the oldest of Niccola's pupils, left to
posterity monuments inferior to those of his master. He entered
the Dominican order as a lay friar in 1257, 5 and spent his years of
novitiate in the convent of the fraternity at Pisa, an edifice which
had already been completed in 1252. 6 The chief monuments of
his chisel are the bas-reliefs of the tomb of S. Domenico at Bologna.
The mortal remains of that saint had originally (1221) been confined
in a wooden bier, from which they were removed with considerable
pomp twelve years later, in presence of the Archbishop of Ravenna
and the magistrates of Bologna (May 23, 1233). 7 Enclosed on this
occasion in a simple urn of stone, they remained sealed until the
completion of a marble sepulchre, whose execution was entrusted
to Niccola and Fra Guglielmo. The former, however, being bound
by his contract at Siena, can scarcely have contributed more than
the designs and composition of reliefs, which were only completed
in 1267.
TMs work by Guglielmo comprised several incidents of the life
of S. Dominic and his disciples on. the sides of a quadrangular tomb. 8
In one of the fronts, the saint restores to life the youth Napoleon ;
BABTHOLOMOSTTS = FECIT OPTJS FIEBI = SIBI TU DIGNABE MEBEBI." (For8-
chungen, vol. ii,, pp. 156-7.) [The tabernacle escaped the flames ; it is still
in S. Paolo fuori le Mura. Though injured and restored, it is still substanti
ally Arnolfo's work.]
' l G. MILANESI, ubi sup. Documenti t vol. i., p. 154.
2 Ibid., p. 154. * Ibid., p. 156. * Ibid., p. 154.
5 Chron. of S. Caterina of Pisa, in Archivio Stor. Italiano, Ser. i., vi.,
p. 468.
e Annali, MSS., p. 4, in Arch* Stor., ubi sup., vol. vi., p. 468.
7 MABCHESE, Memorie, etc. (Flpr., 1854), vol. i. p. 70.
8 The tomb was completed with a cover by Maestro Niccola quondam
Antonii, of Apulia, in 1469, with statuettes by later artists, and a base by
Alfonso Lombardo (MABGHESE, ubi sup., pp. 74-80).
FRA GUGLIELMO 117
in the second the books of his doctrine are saved from the fire which
consumed those of the Manicheans of Languedoc; between the two
is a statuette of the Virgin and Child. On the opposite front, three
scenes of the life of the Beato Reginald of Orleans S. Dominic appear
ing in a dream to Pope Honorius III. and supporting the falling church.
Honorius examining and granting the rules of the order. On the short
sides, S. Dominic receives the Gospels from S. Peter and S. Paul,
entrusts the same to his disciples ; and angels bring food to the followers
of the nascent brotherhood of the order. At the four angles are the
Four Doctors of the Church.
Fra Guglielmo in the execution of these subjects preserved,
but enfeebled, the style of Niccola ; imparted to the figures but
little character, expression, or design; overcharged the draperies
and crowded the groups. The tomb, as a monument of the time,
was, however, no contemptible proof of the extension of the influ
ence of Niccola, who on the occasion of the transfer of the remains
of S. Dominic succeeded in obtaining leave to be present at the
ceremony. Guglielmo, as a brother of the order, naturally expected
and received no pecuniary reward for his labour ; but to repay
himself for the trouble and time he had expended, and also that
he might enrich his own convent of Pisa with a precious and
inestimable relic, he stole one of the ribs of S. Dominic and carried
it away with him, incurring thereby, had his offence been known,
the penalty of excommunication. The theft fortunately was not
noticed ; and it was only on his deathbed that Guglielmo confessed
and rejoiced the hearts of his brethren with the news that S. Catherine
of Pisa was richer by one rib of S. Dominic than had been hitherto
supposed. 1
From Pisa Fra Guglielmo seems to have proceeded to Pistoia,
where he executed, most probably in 1270, the pulpit of S. Giovanni
Fuorcivitas, traces of his name and the foregoing date having been
discovered in the records of Pistoia and on the pulpit, 2 which
besides (and this is more to the purpose) displays his style and
hand. In form it was quadrangular, with four reliefs on two of
the faces and two on the third, representing scenes from the New
Testament. 3 Whilst here the vigour with which Niccola compen-
1 Chron. of S. Oath, of Pisa in MABCHESE, ubi sup., p. 86, vol. i., and
Arch. Storico t vol. vi. y p. 467. A bone of S. Dominic is preserved in S. Marco
at Florence (RiCHA, vil, p. 160).
2 See TIGKI, Quida di Pistoia (Pistpia, 1854), p. 223.
3 Representing 1. The Annunciation and the Visitation. 2. The Nativity
and the Adoration of the MagL 3. The Saviour Washing the Feet of the
Disciples. 4. The Circumcision. 5. The Deposition from the Cross.
6. Christ at the Limbo. 7. The Ascension, 8. The Descent of the Holy
118 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
sated the frequently defective distribution of his groups was
wanting, the general characteristics of his composition and manner
were reproduced. Without the marked squareness or shortness
of stature, without the peculiar classicism of Niccola, the style was
still far from that of one who as a member of a religious fraternity
might have desired to impart a purely devotional spirit to his work.
In the angel with the symbols of the Evangelists, the finest figure
of the pulpit, some repose and Christian feeling might be detected ;
but in general, the heads, large for the small frames, were of the
cold, imitated Roman style. Fra Guglielmo was employed in the
loggia of the Duomo of Orvieto in 1293, 1 and as late as 1313 at
S. Mchele in Borgo of the Camaldolese of Pisa. 2 He died in the
convent of S. Catherine of Pisa, having been fifty-seven years of
the Dominican order. 3
If Vasari were to be credited, Giovanni Pisano had sufficient
proficiency in 1264 to produce a marble tomb at Perugia for the
remains of Urban IV. 4 This assertion it would be idle to discuss,
since the tomb had perished in Vasari's own time. That Giovanni
was hardly considered capable of great labours as late as 1266 is
proved by the low salary which he received at Siena. In a few
years, however, he progressed so as to rival Niccola and exhibit,
in the fountain of Perugia, qualities of a new and superior order.
As an architect he executed, shortly after his father's death, the
Campo Santo, 5 and the ornaments of S. Maria della Spina at Pisa, 6
whose external colonnades, niches, and statuettes were evidently,
and not in the best taste, by him and his pupils. 7 Still earlier
Spirit. 9. The Saviour Appearing to the Virgin and Apostles. 10. The
Death and Ascension of the Virgin. In the angles were six apostles, and
in the middle of the front face the angel with the symbols of the Evangelists.
Supported on the wall by two brackets, the pulpit rests on two columns
reposing, as usual, on the backs of lions.
1 BELLA VALLE, Stor. del Duomo di Orvieto, ubi sup., p. 263.
2 See inscription to that effect, transcribed in MOBRONA, Pis. Illust.,
vol. ii., pp. 101-2.
3 Chron. and Annals of S, Cath. of Pis. in MARCHES A, u^i sup., vol. L,
p. 398. One of Fra Guglielmo's pupils was Fazio, a lay brother Dominican,
who died 1340. See Chron. of S. Catherine of Pisa, in Arch. Stor., vol. vi.,
p. 504.
4 VASABI, vol. i., p. 269.
5 Commenced in 1278. See the original inscription to that effect in
VASABI, p. 271, vol. i.
Ibid., p. 271.
7 VASABI, vol. i., p. 271, says the Virgin and Child on the pinnacle of
La Spina is by Giovanni. The height is great for a critical examination,
but the cast reveals the hand of Giovanni. He mentions also a portrait of
Niccola there. In the life of Andrea Pisano he adds that, in La Spina, Nino
produced a portrait of his father. Has he not confounded these portraits,
which do not exist, with a statue of the apostle Peter ?
KS*. ; -
MADONNA AND CHILD
GIOVANNI PISANO.
Alinari.
Campo Santo, Pisa.
MADONNA AND CHILD (IVORY)
GIOVANNI PISA.NO.
Duomo, Pisa.
GIOVANNI PISANO 119
than this, he might possibly have been the author of the external
additions to the Baptistery of Pisa, by which that ancient edifice
was in 1278 incrusted with balconies, arches, pillars, and statuettes ;
and the old frieze of Bonamicus on the eastern gate was crowned
by a standing figure of the Virgin and Child between two saints,
one of whom, S. John, introduced to her the youthful kneeling
figure of one Pietro. 1 Here Giovanni laboured in that grand
style which marked his work at Perugia, a style by which other
works of the same period might likewise be distinguished. The
life size Virgin and Child in the interior of the Campo Santo 2 may
be placed amongst this class, and admitted as one revealing in the
master a f eeling of grandeur allied to a study of nature in its happiest
mood. The infant's playful smile pleasantly contrasts with the
classical features of the Virgin, her antique profile and broad
fleshy throat, and under the artist's hand the marble seemed to
represent elastic forms, articulations that promised motion, hands
not without elegance, and draperies of considerable breadth. A
tabernacle on the front of one of the gates of the Campo Santo
likewise enclosed six statues of saints, and the architecture as well
as the sculpture did the Pisan honour. 3 From Pisa, in 1283, to
Naples, where he is said to have enlarged the Castel Nuovo, Giovanni,
says Vasari, 4 wandered and laboured, and thence, retiring north
wards again, he became in 1284 a citizen of Siena 5 and probably
capo-maestro of the Duomo. That for some time previous to 1288
he had occupied that high and responsible office is certain. 6 Hence
it might be doubted whether he did more than furnish a design
and the assistance of his pupils for the erection of the altar in the
cathedral of Arezzo and the chapel of the Ubertini family in that
edifice. 7 Vasari, who dwells with peculiar care on the artistic
1 Beneath the Madonna is the inscription : " SUB PETRI CUBA FUTT HJBC
PI A SCTJLPTA FIGUBA NICOL NATO SCTTLTOBE JOHE VOCATO." Vasari Says
the kneeling figure is Pietro Garnbacorti, operaio of the Duomo, which the
annotators deny. They might have noticed that the relief is not on the
Duomo but on the Baptistery.
2 Beneath the first fresco of Benozzo Gozzoli
3 Of the same period perhaps is the Virgin and Child on the pinnacle
of the front of the Duomo. [Quite so. But the tabernacle over the gate
of the Campo Santo towards the Duomo was made after the death of
Giovanni, and was probably the work of the sculptor who made the
GherardescS. monument in the Campo Santo. "Bi name has not come
down to us. The kneeling figure, by some said to be Pietro Gambacorti, is
probably a portrait of the man. Cf. L. B. StiPiNO, Pisa (Bergamo, 1905),
pp. 55, 60.]
4 VASARI, vol. L, p. 272. Castel Nuovo was commenced in 1279, by
Charles I. (CAMEBA, Annati del Regno di Napoli, vol. i, p. 322).
5 MILASTESI, ubi sup. Doci.> vol. i,, p. 163.
6 Ibid., vol. iii., p. 274. 7 VASABI, vol. i., pp. 272-3.
120 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
monuments of his native city, devotes two pages to a description
of this altar, which being situated in the middle of the church was
visible from all sides. Yet the ensemble, of heavy and inelegant
architecture, ill distributed as to space, and filled with figures of
feeble frames and large heads, and draped in ugly festooned vest
ments, was far from displaying either the talent or the peculiar
style of the great Pisan sculptor. The compositions are invariably
ill ordered. In one of the reliefs representing the Crucifixion, the
Saviour is shown as a man of attenuated frame, large head, and
protruding ribs. The Virgin, one of the chief figures, supported on
each side by Honorius IV., as Gregory the Great, and S. Donato the
protector of Arezzo, is feeble as to form and type, and the remain
ing figures vulgar in feature and lame in attitude. The technical
execution is in parts slovenly, and the marble rudely worked.
During 1288, and through 1290, 1295, and 1299, Giovanni re
mained at the head of the works of the Duomo of Siena, 1 under
taking at times other labour, and incurring penalties and fines for
its non-completion or for breach of contract^ yet he was so necessary
and so difficult to replace that the government preferred to absolve
him from liability rather than force him to a precipitate departure. 2
He might therefore in these years have visited Florence, where,
however, no work by him exists, 3 and Bologna. 4 In 1299 he aban
doned Siena for a time, and resided apparently in Pisa, where
amongst the first productions of his chisel was an ivory for the
canons of the Duomo, 5 and possibly a Virgin and Child carved in
the same substance now in the sacristry of the Cathedral. He may
then perhaps have executed for S. Pietro in Vinculis, at Castel S.
Pietro near Pisa, the bas-reliefs of a font seen there by Morrona, 6
and inscribed with his name and that of one of his pupils. 7
1 MILANESI, Doc. Sen., vol. i., pp. 161-2. 2 Ibid., pp. 161-2.
3 The bas-reliefs of the font of S. Giovanni of Florence, assigned to him
by Vasari, cannot be his, as they are dated 1370. (See annot to VAS., vol. i.,
p. 274.) The Virgin and Child, between two angels, in the lunette above
the door leading out of the church into the canonry of S. Maria del Fiore
in Florence, is of a meditative character, and expresses a religious sentiment
unknown to Giovanni Pisano. The softness which pervades these figures
is more characteristic of Nino da Pontedera. Vasari assigns to Giovanni
the arcliitecture of the Convent of the Nuns, the restoration of S. Domenico
of Prato. But the latter could not be restored, since it remained unfinished
till 1322. (See annot. to VAS., vol. i., p. 275.)
4 At Bologna, says Vasari, he restored the choir of S. Domenieo. VAS.,
vol. i., p. 274.
5 See the original record of the order and the price in MORRONA, ubi sup.,
vol. ii., pp. 422-3, and CIAMPI, vbi sup., p. 123.
G MoBRONA,-wfo* sitp. t vol. ii, p. 86.
7 " MAGISTER JOANNES CUM DISCIPULO SXJO LEONARDO FECIT HOC OPUS
AD HONOREM DEI ET SANCTI PETRI APOSTOLI."
GIOVANNI PISANO 121
Pistoia next claimed his presence ; and at S. Andrea, in 1301,
he completed a pulpit, whose bas-reliefs were almost the same as
those which he immediately afterwards undertook at Pisa, and in
a style not much differing from those of his father at Pisa and
Siena. In composition he was still deficient, and in rendering
form frequently unfortunate ; yet in his representation of the
Saviour he less imitated the antique than Niccola, and made a
nearer approach to the less Roman but feebler models of Fra
Guglielmo at S. Giovanni Fuorcivitas. His Inferno, not so fantastic
perhaps as that of Niccola, and unlike those of Pisa and Siena,
was presided by the usual strange figure of Lucifer holding a toad
in his hand. In the Last Judgment, the Saviour, of bony form
and somewhat rude extremities, seemed to accept from the Virgin,
separated from Him by the emblem of the Cross, the good souls
who had gained a place in Paradise at His side. On His left an
angel, struggling with one of the condemned, offered an example
of bold conception and execution. In the Crucifixion the Saviour
was bony, small, and lean, and the thieves defective in form, whilst
the group of the fainting Virgin on the left of the Cross was a
reminiscence of the art of Niccola. Amongst the episodes relative
to the Magi, one group, representing the angel warning them in a
dream not to return to Herod (Matt. iL 12), was essentially worthy
of attention, the angel being amongst the fine productions of
Giovanni. Equally good was the relief of the Nativity. But the
best portions of the pulpit were undoubtedly the statues in the
angles, amongst which that of the angel with a book, and sur
rounded by the signs of the three remaining evangelists, was the
most splendid classical group he had yet produced remarkable
alike for firmness of attitude and animation and impressed in
the features with the character of an antique Alexander. Here,
as it is natural to suppose, the master was assisted by pupils to
whom the feebler portions of the monument may be assigned. 1
1 The following inscription gives the name of the author and the date
of the execution :
LAUDE DE TRINI REM CEPTAM COPULQ FESJT.
CURE PRESENTIS SUB PKEMO MILLE TRICENTIS
PRINCEPS EST OPEEIS PLEBANUS VEL DATOR ERIS
ARNOLDUS RICTUS QUI SEMPER SIT BENEPICTUS.
ANDREAS UNUS VTEELLI QUOQUE TIMUS
NATUS VITAtt: BENE NOTUS NOMINE TALI
DESPENSATORES HI DICTI SUNT MELIORES
SCULPSIT JOHANNES QUI RES NON EGIT INANES
NICHQXI NATXTS SENTIA MEUCORE BEATUS.
QUEM GENUIT PISA DOCTTTM SUPER OMNIA VISA.
122 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
He surpassed himself, however, in a small monument at
S. Giovanni Evangelista of Pistoia a font resting on a central
group of three and supported at the angles by four figures of Virtues,
which were thus represented together in classic attitudes, expres
sion, and movement. This was a monument which required no
religious feeling, and to which the style of Giovanni was admirably
appropriate ; and hence it may be called the finest production of
the master.
Returning to Pisa in 1302, Giovanni commenced there the pulpit
of the Duomo, 1 which afterwards suffered from a most unfortunate
dismemberment, having been deranged, and part of the bas-reliefs
set aside and fixed to the wall in an upper passage. 2 If, however,
this pulpit be in thought restored to its original form, it stiU offers
the same qualities and deficiencies as that of Pistoia. 3 In the
Crucifixion the Saviour was still of a lean and attenuated form,
anatomically studied, but ugly, whilst the group of the fainting
Virgin was an improvement on previous ones. As before, the
best of the reliefs was that of the Birth of the Saviour, in which
the composition was fairly distributed and the movements were
both natural and animated. In the centre, the Virgin, in a grand
attitude still reminiscent of the antique, raised the veil which covered
the Infant asleep on a cushion. More to the left, Joseph sat ;
whilst near him the Saviour was held, preparatory to being washed,
by a woman feeling the temperature of the water poured out by
another female. In the upper space, the episode of the angel
appearing to the shepherds was new, though in a form frequently
repeated subsequently, and, amongst others, under the same laws
and maxims, by Ghiberti in the north gate of the Baptistery of
Florence a fact which need cause no surprise, as it only proves
that in the fifteenth century artists returned anew to the study
of the classic, and took up the art where it had been left by the
great Pisan. In the Flight into Egypt, the Virgin seemed to play
with the smiling Saviour as she sat on the ass, accompanied by
1 Commissioned by Borgogni di Tado, as appears by the inscription, for
which, see MOBRONA, ubi sup., vol. i., p. 336.
2 This took place in the sixteenth century, after the fire which destroyed
many of the monuments of the cathedral. See MOKBONA, ubi sup., vol. i.,
p. 299.
3 The pulpit in its present shape was put together under the super
intendence of the operaio Coeli in 1607. MOIURONA, ubi sup., vol. i., p. 302.
[The pieces of the pulpit now in the Museo Civico are not altogether perfect.
For instance, two pieces besides those mentioned, the Nativity of S. John
Baptist, and the Condemned, remain in the parapets of the choir of the
Duomo. Cf. StTFuro, op. tit., p. 68.]
GIOVANNI PISANO 123
the youthful Joseph, a most interesting group, common to Giovanni
and to the Giottesques. On the other hand, the ignoble figure
of the Saviour at the column showed that when the sculptor
sought to imitate nature with more than usual closeness he was
but the more imperfect in rendering form. The remaining reliefs
of the Massacre of the Innocents and the Adoration of the Magi
were marked by considerable action, and nothing more. The Last
Judgment, with the Resurrection and Paradise, may be seen in
the wall above the door of the sacristy in the Duomo, and exhibit
similar defects to those already noticed in the Saviour of Giovanni
at Pistoia. 1 The pulpit, as Vasari declares, was inscribed :
LAUDO DEUM VEEUM PER QUEM SUNT OPTIMA EEEUM
QUI DEBIT HAS PURAS HOMINI FORMARE FIGURAS ;
HOC OPUS HIS ANNIS DOMINI SCULPSERE JOHANNIS
ARTE MANUS SOLA QUONDAM, NATIQUE NICOLE
CURSIS UNDENIS TERCENTUM, MILLEQUE PLENIS . . . . 2
During the nine years expended at intervals on this work, Giovanni
is said to have laboured to erect the tomb of Benedict XI. 3 in the
church of S. Domenico at Perugia. It was a very fine monument,
resting on a base under a painted tabernacle supported by winding
columns. On the tomb lay the statue of Benedict exposed to
view by two angels holding back a curtain, 4 and supporting a cover,
on the summit of which were a statuette of the Virgin and Child,
1 Amongst other isolated portions, one, representing four Evangelists in
one block with their symbols, and a kneeling figure in front of S. John
Evangelist, seems to have been the central support of the monument, and
displays the best qualities of Giovanni in classic heads and draperies* fleshy
articulations, and animated movement.
Other bas-reliefs have been brought together in the choir of the cathedral,
evidently forming part of an old pulpit, representing 1. the Annunciation.
2. The Birth. 3. The Presentation. 4. The Adoration of the Magi. 5. The
Flight into Egypt. 6. The Massacre of the Innocents. All but the first and
last are in the manner of an inferior artist. (These four bas-reliefs were
formerly a part of a pulpit in the church of S. Miehele in Borgo of Pisa. See
comments of FRANCESCO BONAINI to the Oronaca del Convento di Santa
Caterina, in Archo. Storico, vi., p. 472, and MOHRONA, Pis. lUust., voL iii.,
p. 167, who assigns them to Fra Guglielmp.) The Annunciation and the
Massacre seem more in the style of Giovanni. In the pulpit of the Duomo,
the figures on the angles of the Saviour with His right hand on His breast,
and holding a book, three prophets and four Evangelists seem to be by
Giovanni. Other remains, also by him, for instance, a base with the eight
sciencesare now in the Campo Santo, No. 136.
2 This inscription is incomplete, and gives only the date of the com
pletion of the pulpit. But it appears (annot. to VAS., vol. i., p. 277), from
another inscription in a pilaster outside the church, that the monument was
commenced in 1302.
3 Benedict XI. died in 1304, and was buried at Perugia.
4 On the faces of the cover four half-figures of prophets.
124 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
a bishop and a monk presenting a kneeling ecclesiastic. Yet in
the style of the sculpture a softer and less energetic manner than
that usual to the Pisan might be traced. Still it is possible that
he may have entrusted the design to some of his pupils. 1
As regards the bas-reliefs on the front of the cathedral of Orvieto,
which Vasari assigns to Niccola, Giovanni, and other artists whom
he generalises under the name of " Tedeschi," 2 it is at the present
time impossible to fix either the date of their completion, or the
names of the numerous sculptors who assisted in producing them. 3
Delia Valle, in the Storia del Duomo di Orvieto, had reason to
complain of numerous gaps in the collection of records which he
consulted. He therefore assumed some facts and invented others,
and thus added to the confusion which he might have helped to
clear. A few facts may to a certain extent elucidate the question.
The Duomo of Orvieto was commenced in 1290, and the founda
tion was laid amidst great rejoicing by Pope Nicholas IV. in
that year. The author of the original plan has hitherto remained
unknown, and Delia Valle's assertion, that Lorenzo Maitani of Siena
was appointed to make it, is supported upon no records. It is
suspected indeed by the diligent Gaetano Milanesi, 4 that Lorenzo
Maitani was not born till 1275, so that he would have been fifteen
years old when the Duomo was founded. 5 The greatest sculptor
employed at the cathedral in the first years after its foundation
was Bamo di Paganello " de ultramontis," a master who, after the
commission of some offence against the laws of Siena, had been
exiled and then pardoned in 1281. Ramo remained in Siena, and
found employment in 1288 in the Duomo under Giovanni Pisano,
who was then chief of the works. That the Orvietans should have
engaged Bamo is almost a proof that they were unable to secure
the services of his superior Giovanni Pisano nor indeed is there
any record to confirm the assertion of Vasari that Giovanni laboured
there. With Bamo di Paganello in 1293 were Jacobus Cosma of
1 Vasari notices a Virgin and Child with two kneeling children on one
side, and the Emperor Henry II. by Giovanni above the portal of the Duomo
facing the Campanile, and Morrona saw the ruins of it. See VAS., vol. i.,
p. 278.
2 And who are probably men of Como.
3 \Cf. L. FUMI, II Duomo di Orvieto e i suoi restauri (Rome, 1891), and
L. DOUGLAS, Orvieto Cathedral, in Architectural Review, June, 1903. The
reliefs on the pilasters of the facade were executed between 1310 and 1321,
in part by Lorenzo Maitani, in part under his supervision.]
4 Doc. Sen., ubi sup., vol. i., p. 173.
6 [Lorenzo Maitani was appointed capo-maestro in 1310. He was brought
from Siena to buttress the falling walla of the Duomo.]
ORVIETO CATHEDRAL 125
Rome, 1 Fra Guglielmo of Pisa, Guido, and a number of other
sculptors from Como. No trace of a superior or guiding spirit is
to be found at the works of Orvieto Cathedral in the earlier time
of its erection. They had been sufficiently advanced in 1298 for
Boniface VIII. to read the Mass there ; but the state of the edifice,
and the irregular manner in which it had been raised, were made
evident in 1310, when the council of the cathedral, upon the election
of Lorenzo Maitani to the office of capo-maestro, was fain to confess
that the church threatened to fall in, and that it was necessary
to rebuild the wall " e# parte anteriori." The bas-reliefs of the
front sufficiently prove that sculptors of different periods executed
various parts of them ; and as the labours of the edifice lasted till
1356 under Lorenzo and his son Vitale Maitani, it is apparent that,
in addition to works that might have been completed in the loggia
at an early time, others of a much later period were used. 2
The principal ornaments of the front are four pilasters, of which
the two central ones are finely composed, and exhibit figures in bold
action and broad drapery, but short and square in frame. The two
pilasters on each side are a mixture of two or more styles, the upper
portion of both being in the manner of the central ones, the lower of a
later character. Taking, for instance, the first pilaster on the left,
representing scenes from the Creation to the settlement of the children
of Noah : the Creation of Adam and Eve, in the lowest course, is a
fine composition, full of truthful and natural movement, no longer in
the conventional and sculptural forms peculiar to Niccola and the
continuators of his manner, but by one who sought to follow, and if
possible to improve upon, nature. The nude had not hitherto been
rendered with more spontaneity or force ; nor is it possible to find
anything approaching it except when, later, Giotto shed his influence
on the schools of Italian sculpture. They may therefore be by Andrea
Pisano. 3 The Temptation, and Adam and Eve hiding at the voice of
the Lord the Expulsion, and our first parents labouring by the sweat
of their brow the sacrifice of Cain and Abel, and the murder of the
latter, were of that advanced art which seemed to foreshadow the
manner of Pollaiuolo. Noah teaching his children, Tubal Cain and
Seth in the uppermost course, were no longer in the same style, but
revealed, in their short and square figures, the manner of the followers
of Niccola. The second pilaster was devoted to the genealogy of the
1 "[Boito says Jacobus was more than eighty years old when he worked
at Orvieto. Cf. BOITO, ArchiteUura del Medioevo in Italia (Milano, 1860),
but L. DOUGLAS, op. tit., tells us he was among the first masters at work
there.]
2 See for all these facts, Doc. Sen.> w6t sup., vol. L, p. 173.
3 He is proved to have been capo-maestro of Orvieto with his son Nino
in 1347-9. Annot. to VAS., note to vol. iii., p. 11.
126 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
house of David, and terminated at the upper part by a relief of the
Crucifixion. The third was occupied by incidents from the life of the
Saviour, admirably composed and grouped, but recalling, like the
second, the styles of Niccola and Giovanni's followers. In the fourth
pilaster, the upper course, representing the Saviour in glory, was of the
same class ; but the lower compartment, far different, exhibited more
modern types, and seemed the perfection of the manner of Giovanni
Pisano.
It would have been difficult to find a more fertile fancy, greater
skill in rendering form, more vigour or character in the beginning
of the fourteenth century, than were exhibited in the resurrection
of the dead from their graves, and in the agonies of tortured souls
in the Inferno. Here, Lucifer was no longer the quaint hybrid
of Niccola and Giovanni, but a monster in a more human form,
writhing with bound hands, and supported by hissing dragons,
whose scaly frames were twined round his. The most inexhaustible
invention seemed hardly taxed by the variety of pain inflicted and
endured by the sinners ; nor would it be easy to find more truthful
imitations of nature in the most varied motion than in the figures
of those in the grasp, or hanging from the jaws, of the devils. Such
life and motion might well have caused wonder in Signorelli when
he laboured in this very Duomo, and in Michael Angelo, whose
imaginative mind might be struck with the ingenuity of one in
whom he could recognise a spirit akin to his own. The author of
these reliefs no longer rendered the short and heavy forms of the
school of Niccola, but more slender and active ones, in good motion,
with well-jointed limbs and extremities, and animated features. 1
Above the architrave, a carved and coloured Virgin and Child
was represented, by Andrea Pisano, seated beneath a dais supported
by six angels. 2 In the front of the edifice were statues of prophets, 3
some of which have been considered to recall the style of the later
Sienese, Agostino and Agnolo. 4
Giovanni Pisano died, says Vasari, in 1320, 5 leaving unfinished
the works of the cathedral of Prato, but having completed at least
the chapel of the Sacra Cintola. He was buried in the Campo
1 Above the pilasters are the symbols of the Evangelists in bronze ;
one of them modern.
2 See the authoritative statement of this in notes to VASAKI, vol. iii., p. 11.
3 Three of which are modern.
* The first notice of Agnolo of Siena is of 1312, the latest 1349. (Doc.
Sen., vol. i. p. 206.)
5 According to CIAMPI, Giovanni had a son, Bernardo, who laboured in
the Duomo of Pisa between 1299-1303, Notiz. ined., p. 45.
PROGRESS OF SCULPTURE 127
Santo of Pisa by the side of his father. 1 Yet if he be the author
of the monument of Enrico Scrovegni erected at the Arena of
Padua in 1321 and signed " JOKIS MAGISTER NICCOLI," his death
must have occurred later than Vasari states.
The progress of sculpture has now been traced to show the state
to which it had been reduced previous to Niccola, and the changes
which it underwent in his hands. It is evident that in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries, as in earlier ages, sculptors existed in every
part of Italy, but that, having lost the true idea of form, they had
preserved merely the traditions of Christian composition. In
the South of Italy, however, a vein of the imitative antique had
extended, and still derived life, in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, from a source which elsewhere had been clearly exhausted.
That Classicism, suddenly transported to Central Italy by Niccola,
should naturally create wonder amongst men reduced to an almost
primitive generalisation of art, was only what might have been
expected. Conventional as Niccola's manner was, it could not
but create emulation and rivalry in the study of mere form ; and
the examples of Pisa in this sense were of advantage to all the schools
of Italy. But whilst Niccola infused a new spirit into the minds
of his countrymen, he could lay no claim to the creation of Christian
types. His art, had it remained unsupported by the new current of
religious and political thought so sensible in the thirteenth century,
would perhaps have perished without leaving a trace behind it.
Mere classical imitation could not suffice for the wants of the time ;
and thus it was that, whilst Niccola created on one side an emula
tion that was to produce the noblest fruits, he was himself convinced .
that, without a return to the study of nature, no progress was
possible. In his attempt to graft on the conventional imitation
of the antique a study of nature he failed ; nor would his son and
pupils have succeeded even in the measure which is visible in their
works but for the examples which were created for them in another
and greater school, the Florentine. The spirit which had been
roused throughout Italy by the examples and miracles of S.
Francis contributed to the development of an art based on nobler
principles than those of mere imitation, and that spirit, of which
Giotto 2 was the incarnation, spread with uncommon speed through-
1 That Giovanni had the intention of leaving his bones at Siena is proved
by the following inscription now in the front of the Palazzo Arcivescovile :
"HOC EST SErULCBTTM MAGISTBI JOHANNIS QUONDAM MAGISTKI KICOLAI ET
DE EJTTS EREDIBUS." AntWt. to VAS., vol. L, p. 280.
2 ["Giovanni Pisano," writes Burckhardt, "was the most influential artist
128 HISTORY OP PAINTING IN ITALY
out the whole of the Peninsula, affected the schools of sculpture,
and assisted them also in the development of a new life. Thus,
whilst Niccola revived the feeling for true form, others gave to
that form a new meaning, created the Christian types of this and
succeeding ages, and laid the foundation for the greatness of
Italian art.
of his time ; without him Giotto would not have existed, or at least he would
have been other than he was, and more embarrassed by his art. Giotto
owes certainly to Giovanni more than to his own master Cimabue. Thanks
to a prodigious activity, that influence wont quickly through Italy, and it
is from his enthusiastic genius spring in the two capitals of Tuscany,
Florence and Siena, a legion of original masters who close the cycle of the
plastic school of Pisa and bring in the period of Italian Gothic. And as
these masters went from Tuscany north and south throughout Italy, every
where they gave a new impulse to a kind of local art which took essentially
for model Giovanni Pisano " (Cicerone).']
CHAPTEK V
PAINTING IN CENTRAL ITALY
To the general picture of the degeneracy of Italian painting from
the earlier times to the middle of the thirteenth century, it may
be now useful to add more particular notices of special schools ;
and as the rise of sculpture at Pisa has been traced, the course
pursued by painting there and in the neighbouring Lucca, Siena,
and Arezzo may naturally claim the first attention.
In the absence of all public spirit and enterprise, the Dark Ages
could not yield great monuments of painting ; and artists are
accordingly found chiefly confining themselves to the reproduction
of one great and universal subject, that of the Saviour on the
Cross. In proportion as the movement was slow and gradual by
which the martyrdom of Christ was allowed to become a fit object
for delineation, in the inverse ratio was the speed with which
artists yielded to the tendency of representing His sufferings and
agony. With steps hesitating and reluctant at first, they accom
panied Him on the road to Calvary, withholding from the masses
the spectacle of His shame, when, carrying His Cross, He was dragged
to the place of execution. Slowly, this sentiment of repugnance
gave way, till in the eleventh century the whole tragedy was
unfolded. Yet whilst the sentiment of painters led them to the
final resolution of actually presenting the Redeemer as He stood
upon the Cross, a remnant of respect for the ideas that swayed
early churchmen forbade them to delineate any signs of grief or
pain. So in the earliest Crucifixions the Saviour was presented,
as has been seen, erect, with each foot nailed to the Cross, open-
eyed and either serene or menacing. The modification of this
last feeling can be traced with surprising accuracy in the Crucifixes
of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and other places, until S. Francis, with the
miracle of the Stigmata, may be said to have changed the current
of religious thought in this respect in a final and irrevocable manner.
The number of Crucifixes which is to be found in the eleventh,
twelfth, and thirteenth centuries proves at once the general nature
of the requirements of the faithful of all classes, and the substitu-
I. 15 *> I
130 . HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
tion of the material symbol for its presentation on the walls of
edifices. The mere delineation of the Saviour on the Cross was
not however considered sufficient and was never taken alone ;
but in order to complete the holy history, and fitly to convey the
idea of the sacred tragedy, the Evangelist John and the Virgin
were usually painted at the extremity of the arms, the Saviour in
glory and benediction at the top, and the scenes of the Passion at
the sides, of the Cross. 1
Amongst the earliest Crucifixes of this kind is the colossal one
in San Michele in Foro at Lucca, 2 where an artist of the eleventh
century represented the Saviour erect, of good proportions, and
fairly designed with simple but somewhat rough and dark outlines,
open-eyed, and with the feet separately nailed. 3 The head, slightly
inclined to the right, was somewhat long, the nose equally so,
and the mouth and eyes small. The form, imperfectly rendered,
did not betray an effort at reproducing the false anatomy of later
examples. 4 Plastic had been used to assist the painter's art in
the reproduction of relief ; and whilst the whole figure was painted
of an uniform colour, somewhat darkened by time and restoring,
the idea of rotundity was given by the projection of the frame,
which, culminating at a central line, merged into the fiat at the
neck, wrists, and feet. These last, feeble and pointed, were painted
on the flat like the head, which, however, with its nimbus, projected
forward, that it might be more visible to the spectator. The
whole of the figure was painted on a primed canvas beaten into
the gesso which covered the wood. 5 A later example of the same
1 One may notice the similarity of this form of composition and that of
churches built in the shape of the Latin Cross with side chapels added to it.
3 On a pilaster to the right of the arch of the tribune.
3 The stature and position of the Saviour is the same as that in the
Crucifixion at S. TJrbano alia Caffarella at Rome, and that of the MS. miniature
at the Minerva at Rome, and in that of the bronze gates of Bonanno at
Monreale.
* The hair, divided in the middle, falls down the shoulders, and a gold
drapery is fastened by a jewelled girdle to the hips. The Cross is painted
blue on a gold ground. An ornamented border runs round the panels at the
sides. The outlines have suffered from restoring.
5 The Saviour at the top of the Cross was represented in the act of bene
diction and holding the book, with a green halo, and vestments of the
traditional colours. At His sides knelt two angels in adoration. One of these
is modern. Beneath the Saviour in glory are the words on a label : " JESUS
NAZABEisncis REX JTJDEORUM." At the extremities of the branches were the
symbolic figures of the Evangelists and an angel in flight. Right and left
of the Cross, and beneath the horizontal limbs, were three courses of small
panels, representing the Virgin and S. John the Evangelist, the Crucifixion of
the Thieves, Christ Deposited in the Tomb, and the Maries at the Sepulchre,
rudely executed in the old typical forms common to the paintings and
CRUCIFIXES 131
kind is the Crucifix of S. Giulia at Lucca, painted on wood without
relief, and representing, besides the Saviour, Evangelists, saints,
and angels, the same scenes of the Passion as that of San Michele.
But the decline even of this art might be noticed in the forms
and attitude, and in the mode in which the painting was executed.
The figure was still erect, but the head a little more bent than
before. The outlines of the nude were more defective. Green
half tints contrasted with reddish shadows. The modelling of
the parts was rendered as geographers are wont to represent the
swells of hills, by meandering lines, the features by closely repeated
red, black, and white, and the anatomy by black streaks. This
Crucifix, which is connected with a miracle of the year 1209, 1 may
be of the latter half of the twelfth century. Two more Crucifixes,
exactly similar in character and plan, but somewhat damaged by
time, are in S. Donnino, 2 and S. Maria de' Servi at Lucca, and thus
prove the existence of painters there in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries. That the art of painting, far from improving, retro
graded at Lucca, except perhaps in certain technical modes of
execution, is evident from the works of the Berlinghieri, a family
of artists which can be traced back to about A.D. 1200. Amongst
the names of men who signed the treaty of peace with Pisa in 1228
occur those of five painters. Lotharius and Banuccius, of whom
no works are known, and Bonaventura, Barone, and Marco Ber
linghieri. 5 Of the latter the names are repeated in another record
of the same period, from which it appears further that Bonaventura
and Barone were the sons of one Berlingherus, a Milanese. 4 The
latter still lived in 1228. 5 Marco, according to the capitular records
of Lucca, was a miniature painter and the author of an illuminated
Bible executed in 1250. 6 Barone had, according to the same
authority, executed several Crucifixes, one for the Pieve of Casa-
basciana in 1254, another for S. Alessandro Maggiore at Lucca in
1284. 7 Of Bonaventura, whose works have alone been preserved,
panels and wall-paintings were known to have been completed
miniatures of earlier centuries. On a small panel at the foot of the Cross,
Peter might be seen seated, listening to the questions of the servant.
1 See the Opusc^do of TELESFORO BINI (Lucca), pp. 13, 18.
2 This Crucifix is damaged by time and repairs.
3 TELKSFOBO BINI, ubi sup., p. 15.
* Ibid., same page.
5 Atti della R. Acad. di Lucca, vol. xiii., p. 365.
6 Archives of ike Chapter o/ Liicca, lib. LL. 25, fol. 78, in Bnsri, ubi sup., p. 15.
7 Archives of the CanceUeria del Vescovado (Lucca), lib. vi., fol. 10, in BIKI,
ubi sup.
132 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
in 1235 and 1244. 1 It is not many years since a picture, assigned
to Margaritone in the church of San Francesco of Pescia, was
subjected to a rigid examination by Professor Michele Ridolfi, who
discovered that, according to a practice not uncommon in past time,
the head of the principal figure was on a lower panel, whilst the
rest was painted on another, superposed. 2 This later addition
having been removed, a standing figure was laid bare, of S. Francis,
holding a book and showing the Stigmata, with two archangels
at his shoulders, and six incidents of his life in a triple course of
panels at his sides. Beneath his feet were the following lines :
A.D. M.CCXXXV.
BONAVETURA BERLIGHEBI DE LU . . .
S. Francis was of a long form, in cowl, frock and cord. His
shaven head, of regular shape, was of a lean and bony form, with
sharp features and a wrinkled brow, and supported on a very thin
neck. The figure seemed to hang in air, with a pair of very ugly
feet pointing downwards. The flesh tints were of a bronzed yellow,
with green shadows stippled in black, and broadly defined by dark
outlines, the lights marked by streaks of white. The execution
was perhaps more careful and the idea of rotundity less feebly
conveyed than in the Crucifix of Santa Giulia, but the method was
the same in both. The drapery of the frock, being all of one colour,
was indicated by lines. 3 The angels, mere half figures with
embroidered dresses in the old motionless style, and the episodes
of the saint's life were rendered with childish simplicity, coloured
in sharply contrasted keys of colour. There was indeed in the
resolute intention of conveying the subjects something approaching
to the ludicrous. S. Francis might be seen talking to sparrows
1 Bonaventura painted on the wall in Lucca in 1244. (Arch, of the Canca.
of the Vescovado, lib. iJk IS, fol. 115.) He painted in 1243 a panel for the
archdeacon of Lucca (lib. xvii., fol. 12). Barone was summoned to complete
within a given time a Madonna which he and Bonaventura had commenced
at S. Alessandro of Lucca. Lib. L. No. 3, fol. 2, in Lettera del Prof. M. Ridolfi
al Marchese Selvatico (8vo, Lucca, 1857), p. 15. Again Barone promises to
paint a room for the canons of the cathedral of Lucca in 1240. Same Arch.,
lib. IL. 18, fol. 115, in Lettera, ubi sup., p. 16.
2 TELESFOBO Bnsri, ubi sup., pp. IS, 19.
3 The picture is on gold ground, S. Francis over life size. At Modena,
in possession of Count Montecueuli, is a picture of S. Francis inscribed :
*' BONAVEOTUBA BERXINGERI ME PINXIT DE LUCCA. A.D, M.CC.XXX.V." Painted
in oil on canvas, it is a copy, and the signature a forgery. Yet there is a
very pretty quarrel of pamphlets respecting its originality. See the Marquis
Campori's sensible remarks on this subject. (Gli Artisti Italiani e Stranieri
negfa Sta& Estetw, 8vo, Modena, 1855, p. 86.) The picture of Count Monte-
cucali is from the Castle or Rocca of Giulia. See also LANZI, Roscoe'a trn.,
Bohn> vol. ii, p. 343, 1847, and vol. i., p. 37,
DEODATO ORLANDI 133
of a gigantic size, perched on trees growing out of a conical hill.
His cure of the lame was shown, not merely by the straightening
of the limb of one sitting on a rock in a stream, but by the figure
of another retiring whole with his crutches on his shoulders. 1
This was an art as primitive as that of the sculptors who had
preceded Niccola Pisano in Central Italy, an art which, assisting
itself at first by the use of plastic form, improved but slightly in
technical execution, and never could rise even to mediocrity. The
student who cannot visit Lucca may satisfy himself of the infantine
nature of Lucchese art in the thirteenth century, by examining in
the Academy at Florence a Crucifixion 2 with the usual episodes. 3
He will see in this work, originally executed for the nuns of S. Chiara
of Lucca, the decline of the school of the Berlinghieri, and the
Saviour hanging dead on the Cross with sunken head and closed
eyes, as it was customary to depict him, when it became meritorious
to represent the Divinity in the lowest stage of human suffering.
After the Berlinghieri came Deodato Orlandi, the author of a
Crucifix now in the magazines of the palace of Parma, after having
been in S. Cerbone, 4 and in the ducal chapel of Marlia. Deodato
lived in the close of the thirteenth century ; and his Crucifix is
inscribed :
A.D. M.CCLXXXVin DEODATI FUJI OELANDI DE LUCH, HNXIT.
He represented the Saviour on the Cross in a more defective and
unnatural shape than the Berlinghieri, with a long and ill-proportioned
frame, overhanging belly, and a sunken head ; with scarcely any
brow, but a caricature of expression. The features were contracted by
angular lines ; and the beard or massive hair was indicated by a series
of curves. The frame betrayed an effort at representing play of muscles
without any knowledge of their real form. The shoulders were broad,
the waist thin, the joints swollen and without any promise of motion,
the feet and hands defective. 5 A tawny green general tint prevailed
in the flesh, piercing through the muslin drapery on the Mps. The
lights were painted and stippled in over a local tone of verde, whilst
1 The remaining subjects are S. Francis receiving the Stigmata, restoring
the child to life, giving alms, and expelling devils. In the last some
figures of males and females, possessed, offer a variety of ugliness. The
little devils fly quaintly out of their mouths.
2 [No, 101], gold ground, almost gone.
3 The Virgin fainting in the arms of the Maries, the Evangelist convoying
Christ on the road to Calvary, and the Virgin and Child between SS. John
the Baptist, Peter, Clara, and five other saints.
* Two miles outside the gate of S. Pietro at Lucca.
5 Yet this is no worse production than those of the period generally,
See, later, a Crucifix assigned to Cimabue in the sacristy of Santa Croce at
Florence, and the deformities attributed to Margaritone.
134 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
the cheeks and lips were tinged with red. The head of the Saviour,
in the act of benediction at the top of the Cross, contrasted in so far
with that of the crucified Redeemer, that it was of an oval and regular
shape, whilst the Virgin and S. John Evangelist, lamenting at the
extremity of the arms, were mean and vulgar, revealing the deficiency
of the artist in the power of imparting expression otherwise than by
contraction of brow and features. 1
Deodato still painted as late as 1301, when he executed a Virgin
and Saints in five arched compartments inscribed :
AD. M.CCCI. DBODATUS OELANDI ME PINXIT
now in the gallery of Fine Arts at Pisa. 2
He gave to the Madonna the high forehead, the small chin and
neck of the Virgin ha the foregoing Crucifix. To her features he im
parted the usual painful expression by wrinkles and contraction of
brow, whilst, as regards colour, he apparently gained some lightness
from the study of new examples which were now increasing in numbers
under the impulse of the Florentine revival.
Here, then, was a school of painting which, from the eleventh
to the fourteenth century, had merely prolonged the agony of
Christian art in its decline, and which even in the person of Deodato
showed no traces of improvement. Were local historians to be
credited, that artist succeeded at last in producing one picture
worthy of admiration, yet this picture has less the character of
the school of Lucea than that of a Sienese painter of the fourteenth
century. 3
1 The outlines in the Crucifix are of a certain tenuity and cut into the
surface. The nimbus as usual projects. The blue mantle and red tunic of
the Saviour in glory have been retouched. The latter is shot with gold
lights. The Saviour crucified is also retouched here and there.
2 The Virgin and Child enthroned between SS. James, Damian, Peter,
and Paul.
3 Padre Antonio da Brandeglio, in a life of S. Cerbone, alludes to
Deodata's Crucifix of 1288, and adds that the same Deodato was commis
sioned to paint " una imagine " for the nuns of S. Cerbone. In 1295 the
convent was on fire, and the Crucifix, with a picture of the Virgin and Child
in the midst of saints, was saved with difficulty. RIDOLFI, Atti uffiziali della
Eeale Acad. Lucch. (Lucca, 1845), xii., p. 20. There is now at S. Cerbone
a picture of the Virgin holding the Saviour tenderly, in good movement and
well draped, with the narrow eyes, peculiar to Simone and Ugolino of Siena
of clear flesh tints, and neat outlines of S. John Evangelist with a long
flowing beard and a face full of character coloured with much impasto. Both
figures, painted on the verde for flesh tint with shadows stippled in red,
red cheeks and lips, betray the manner of the school of Siena, and a, far
later date than 1301, But even if of 1301, how cotild this picture be saved
from fire in 1295 ? And again how could Deodato paint a better picture
before 1295 than that of 1301 ?
EARLY PISAN PAINTING 135
But in Lucca there were mosaists as well as painters and
sculptors. Rumohr quotes Brunetti l for the interesting fact that
in 754-763 Astolph the Lombard employed a Luccliese mosaist
of the name of Aripert. But the mosaists, who in the thirteenth
century represented Christ in a glory carried by angels and the
twelve apostles on the front of the church of S. Frediano were
entitled to very little consideration. They displayed indeed in a
disproportioned figure of the Redeemer, in angels of vehement and
exaggerated movement, in apostles of excessively defective forms,
no greater art than their comrades in painting or sculpture.
As at Lucca, so at Pisa, painters existed apparently in very
early times. There are notices of Enrico a miniaturist at Pisa
in 1238. 2 As far back as 1275, it appears that money was voted
by the " commune " for the purpose of restoring or repainting
" the images of the Virgin Mary and other saints on the gates
of the city," because they were then well nigh obliterated. 3 The
earliest examples of painting are however again Crucifixes, the
oldest of which, at S. Marta, has a general likeness, as regards the
position and expression of the Saviour, to the Crucified Redeemer
in S. Angelo at Capua. The body is low in reference to the position
of the arms, but the frame is still erect, the eyes open and menacing,
and the feet apart. This Crucifix probably belongs therefore to
the eleventh century. 4 Its side panels are interesting.
A composition of the Capture repeated in a MS. (Greek) of the
twelfth century at the Vatican, of which Agincottrt gives an
engraving (vol. ii. pi. IviL), is remarkable in this sense, that the artist
thought it necessary to show the superiority of the Redeemer by a
certain prominence of stature, in the midst of a crowd of smaller mortals.
To the left, Peter, erect, smites Malchus, whilst in the miniature of the
Vatican the latter is prostrate and S. Peter kneels as lie threatens him
with the sword. In a Deposition, one of tlie Maries stands on a stool
and assists to lower the body held by Joseph of Arimathaea, wMlst the
Virgin kisses the hand and Nicodemus extracts the nail. In the last
subject, the angel sits on the tomb and the Maries listen with surprise
1 RTTMOHB, Forschungen, vol. i., p. 188.
2 See CIAMPI, ubi sup., pp. 86 and 141 ; Doc. xxi.
3 BONAINI, Notizie Inedtie, pp. 87, 88.
4 The bust of the Saviour in glory, apparently broken off from the top
of the Cross, is now placed immediately above the projecting nimbus of
the crucified Redeemer. The figures on the arms of the Cross as usual
represent the Virgin and S. John, bat the episodes at the sides slightly differ
in arrangement and subject from those of Lucca. In the upper course is the
Capture, and Christ before Pilate; in the next the Saviour Crowned with
Thorns and Flagellated; in the last, the Deposition and the Maries at the
Sepulclire.
136 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
to Ms announcement of the resurrection, whilst a soldier still sleeps
at the foot of the sepulchre.
These subjects 1 deserve to be noticed, because they may be
seen repeated in the same traditional forms and grouping by later
and more able artists. They were represented in the crucifix of
S. Marta with some animation of movement, with distances of red
houses on gold ground, and they were painted with considerable
body of colour. On two little compartments, at the foot of the
cross, S. Peter sits before a fire, and a figure may be seen knocking
at a door.
Another Crucifix of the same period has been recently discovered
in San Sepolcro of Pisa, in which the Redeemer is represented in
a position more erect than before, and as usual in fair proportions. 2
The painter of this Crucifix was a rude executant. He lined the
forms with red in the lights, and black in the shaded side. The
features are everywhere marked by lines as if in profile ; the nude
feebly defined, and the colour of an uniform reddish tone unrelieved
by shadow. The face of the Saviour is indicated by elementary
lines the eyes large, and the nose bent.
That the painters of Pisa and Lucca, in their mode of repre
senting the Saviour, merely followed customs familiar to them by
numerous examples of an earlier time, has been sufficiently proved
at Rome and in South Italy. If additional proofs were required,
they would be found in the Crucifix of Sarzana, in character like
that of S. Marta of Pisa, where the open-eyed Saviour was placed
erect on the Cross in the simple attitude familiar to the eleventh
century. 3 They would be found likewise in a Crucifix at S. Giovanni
e Paolo of Spoleto, 4 inscribed at the foot as follows :
AJ>. MCLXXXVII. M. OPUS ALBEBTO SOM. . . .
Without describing the attitude of the Saviour, which does not
essentially differ from that of the Redeemer in the Cappella del Mar-
tirologio at Rome, it may be remarked that this Alberto gave to the
1 Some of the small scenes are partly damaged by time and restoring.
2 The Saviour in glory at the top is wanting ; and instead of the Virgin
and Evangelist on the arms are two small pictures of the Last Supper, and
Christ Washing the Feet of his Disciples. Again, instead of S. Peter and the
servant^ at the foot of the Cross, the Descent of the Holy Spirit is introduced.
The six side compartments contain, the Capture, Crucifixion, Maries at the
Sepulchre, Meeting at Emmaus, Last Supper, and Final Interview with the
Apostles.
8 With the usual episodes of the Passion at the sides.
* This church or chapel is held in peculiar reverence, and is difficult to
enter.
EARLY PIS AN PAINTING 137
head the bullet shape occasionally to be found in pictures and mosaics
at Home after the seventh century, combined with a high forehead,
hair falling in waves along the sides of a slender neck, round eyes, and
a nose protruding at the end like a ball. The feet and hands are long
and pointed, and the forms bounded by a continuous wiry outline,
broad at the thorax retreating towards the waist. Some little shadow
of a reddish hue relieves the general yellowish tone. The cheek is a
little rouged, and the whole carried out on a parchment stretched on
the wood. 1
Superior to this, but doubtless of a later date, is the Crucifix in
the Cappella Maggiore of the Campo Santo at Pisa, in which the
lean figure of the Redeemer on the Cross is marked by a certain
yielding elasticity.
The bending head and closed eyes indicate here the development
of a later religious conception, though as yet the sense of pain was
rendered without exaggeration of expression and rather by a quiet
mournfuhiess. Still the drawing is not without the usual defects of
the time. The features are rudely made out, the diaphragm and
stomach indicated by lines, and the extremities thin and pointed.
The attendant episodes are the same as before, but more animated
and somewhat truer in action. 2
The date of this Crucifix may be fixed with accuracy, by the
attitude and expression of the Saviour, between A.D. 1150 and
1190. 3 Hence it is difficult to assent to the opinion of those who
assign it to Apollonius a Greek, whom Vasari rescues from oblivion,
but who seems, if Bel Migliore be not mistaken, to have lived a
century later. 4
1 The loins of the Saviour are enveloped in a transparent green cloth
bordered with red. The head and nimbus project as -usual. The Saviour's
hair is a dull red as at S. Elia of Nepi. The blood from the wounds flows
into a death's-head below, the emblem of the first man; and at the sides,
instead of the usual scenes of the Passion, are two panels representing the
Virgin and the Evangelist.
2 They represent the Deposition, almost in the same form as at S. Marta,
the Maries at the Sepulchre with the angel sitting on the tomb the Piet&
in which the body of the Saviour lies on the lap of the Virgin* saints at each
side, and three angels above Christ at Emmaus the Entombment, and the
Incredulity of S. Thomas, At the extremities of the arms, the Virgin and
Evangelist occupy one panel, whilst the other is devoted to the three Maries.
On a second horizontal limb the four archangels are represented, with the
orb and sceptre, and at the foot the Saviour appears in Limbo.
3 This Crucifix was formerly in S.-Matteo of Pisa, where MOBBONA, Pis.
Ittu9t. f vol. iii, p. 184, mentions it as an " anticaglia " possibly by Giunta. It
was previously in the suppressed convent of S. Lorenzo. RQSINI, St. deUa
Pittura (Pis,, 1839), vol. i., p. 85.
4 Commentary on the life of Tafi, in VAS., vol. i., p. 288. Del Migliore
pretends to have read a record of 1279, in which were the words : " MAGISTEK
APOLLONITTS PICTOB FLOBENTINTrS."
138 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
The progress of the mournful in the conception of the Saviour
was marked with greater force in a later Crucifix at S. Pietro in
Vinculis, now S. Pierino of Pisa, 1 in which, though the feet of the
colossal Saviour were still separately nailed to the Cross, the belly
and hips hung outwards and gave realism to the idea of death.
At the same time, grim care and age were expressed in the face.
The oblique brows, forehead, and closed eyes were furrowed with
wrinkles, and created strange corrugations by their contraction.
Anatomy seemed to have been studied in vain, and the execution
showed the gradual decline of art even from the standard of previous
years, in dark strong outlines and a thin yellowish colour. 2
With this doleful representation of the Divinity of the Saviour,
the spectator is introduced to the degenerate style of Giunta Pisano,
who, though not the author of it, carefully copied its defects.
Giunta, so far from exhibiting the characteristics of one destined
to regenerate art, merely followed it in its decline. Art, thus
reduced to the representation of one figure, which in itself should
combine all excellence, had reached in him a level below which it
was only just possible to fall. He executed, in the Crucifix of
S. Raineri e Leonardo at Pisa, a work more calculated to repel
than to invite observation. 3 Whilst he preserved the custom of
keeping the feet of the Saviour apart, he realised the idea of death
and pain, as regards the figure, by the overhanging belly and hips,
and as regards the head, not merely by its total abandonment to
its own weight, but by a hideous exaggeration of grief. It would
be difficult to find anything more vulgar or repulsive than the
angular contractions and swollen muscles of the brow, the vast
and unnatural forehead, the large nose cut into two or three sharp
planes, the mapped out hair lined at angles as it lies in masses on
the shoulder, or worse proportion in the long, falsely anatomised
body, short arms, and long, pointed feet. The head of the Saviour
1 To the right on the wall behind the high altar.
3 The medallion of the Saviour in glory at the top is supported by two
angels in flight, and on a tablet below it the Descent of the Spirit is depicted.
Between the two is the following inscription : ** MORTIS DESTRUCTOR, VITJE
REPARATOR ET ATJCTOR/' ROSINI, Stor. ddla PittWTO, (Pis., 1839), Vol. i.,
p. 87, doubts the genuineness of this inscription. But why ? At the ends
of the horizontal limb two archangels stand holding the orb and sceptre.
The Virgin and S. John are on the sides, as in the crucifix of Spoleto, and
at the foot, S. Peter and the servant the whole painted on a primed canvas,
stretched on the gesso. This Crucifix is as usual on gold ground, and the
projections at the sides an ornament of black and red fillets.
a This Crucifix is inscribed below the feet of the Saviour: " JUNCTAPISANTTS
ME FECIT," and hung in the time of MORRONA (Pis. Illust., vol. ii., p. 135)
in the kitchen of the convent of S. Anna of Pisa.
GIUNTA PISANO 139
in glory at the top of the Cross corresponds singularly with that
of the crucified Redeemer, in so far as its lean bullet shape, round
gazing eyes, and enormous wig are ugly and repulsive a character
to which the Virgin and Evangelist at the extremity of the limbs
are equally entitled. 1 Painting in Pisa was evidently at a low ebb
at the time of Giunta, and no better proof of this fact need be sought
than that afforded by the rude works of S. Pier d j Arena, now
S. Pietro in Grado, outside the town, on the road to Leghorn.
In the first half of the thirteenth century the chief aisle of this
edifice was painted in the style then usual throughout Italy that
is, with a due subordination of the pictorial to the architectural
adornment.
In the upper course beneath a painted cornice, angels were depicted
as if appearing at open or half-closed windows, made by a rude sort of
perspective to imitate recesses and openings. In a lower course,
episodes from the lives of S. Peter and S. Paul were depicted, amongst
which the martyrdom of both are fairly visible. Lower again, a series
of painted arches were filled with portraits of popes, some of which
are now modern. The whole of the architecture, real or feigned, was
coloured in raw and startling tones. The figures were heavy and
square in proportions, and large of forehead and head, the features
being indicated by profile lines of angular or oblique direction. The
eyes were large and 'round, the mouths small and expressed by three
lines like half of a hexagon, the beards by three or four strokes of a brush.
The outlines generally were red. Yet in all this rudeness the painters
still preserved the characteristic traits of S. Peter and S. Paul. The
technical execution was that well-known method which consisted in
covering the space within the outlines in verde, over which the yellow
lights were laid with a red patch, to mark the cheeks.
If Giunta be not the author of these paintings, there can be no
doubt that the artists were of the school from which he comes.
Here indeed is no more trace of the Greek manner, respecting which
so much has been said by the historians of Italian and chiefly of
Pisan art, than is to be found in all the works of this period. Nay,
in one sense the rude paintings of S. Pietro in Grado are so far
different in design from such Greek works as the mosaics of Monreale
and of the chapel of S. Silvestro 2 at Rome, that the figures have
not an affrighted glance, but an air of comparative repose. But
it is probable that even the moderns share with Vasari a certain
1 Here the episodes of the Passion are wanting. The figure of the
Saviour in glory is on gold ground.
2 SS. Quattro Coronati.
140 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
dislike for works which are surely not to be highly prized, except
by those who may contemplate in them a useful source, from which
to derive a correct idea of the state of Italian art in the beginning
of the thirteenth century. Besides the paintings of S. Pietro in
Grado, other works exist in Pisa itself, which betray a lamentable
barbarism. Such, for instance, are the damaged wall paintings in
the Opera of the cathedral, 1 a work darkened by time, coarsely
outlined, and painted with much body of tempera colour. 2
With little better art, and in the mixed architectural and
pictorial manner of S. Pietro in Grado, the nave of the Lower
Church of S. Francesco at Assisi seems to have been painted,
between 1225 and 1250, with scenes from the life of the Saviour
on the left hand and scenes from the life of S. Francis on the right. 3
An effort may be traced in the artist to give animation to his
slender figures, which in type and mode of execution are like those
in the paintings of San Pietro in Grado. An interesting scene is
that which still represents part of the form of the naked Saviour
lying on the sepulchre, whilst the Virgin falls backwards in a swoon
into the arms of the Maries, who in their features express the agony
of their grief. The painter had a clear intention and exhibits
some dramatic power. In this and other points there is a slight
superiority at Assisi over the paintings of S. Pietro in Grado. 4
It is difficult, however, to explain why these paintings should be
assigned to Greeks, unless it be resolved that everything poor in
art is Greek in the thirteenth century, and in that case Giunta
would be the most genuine of all the Byzantines. 5 Whatever may
have been this painter's real birthplace, there is no doubt that
he is claimed by the Pisans, and in this they are authorised by
the signatures on his paintings, in which he calk himself Pisanus.
Ciampi has published a contract of sale executed in 1202 & at Pistoia
between one Struffaldus and one " Juncta quondam Guidotti pict.,"
and another of 1229 in which the same name appears, but the link
1 Where the Virgin and Child are enthroned between S. John the Baptist
and S. John Evangelist in niches.
* See a print of this rude work in ROSINI, Storia delta Pittura, ubi sup.,
vol. i., p, 76.
3 VASAEI, vol. i., p. 223 assigns these paintings to Cimahue.
4 [For a description of these paintings c/. FBATINI, St. detta Basilica e
del Convenlo di 8. Francesco in Assisi (Prato, 1882), pp. 35-39.}
5 Still earlier wall paintings were noticed by RUMOHB in the crypt of
S. Francesco of Assisi (Forchungen f vol. i., p. 193) ; but they have since
been obliterated
* But the record was in the Archivio Diplomatico of Florence. See
CIAMPI, Not. Ined^ uhi wp. y p. 140.
S. FRANCESCO OF ASSISI 141
which should confirm the identity of the party to the contract
with Giunta is wanting. In the last-named document, Guidottus
is called " de Colle," upon which Momma jumps at the conclusion
that Giunta is of the noble family dal Gotta. 1 A more satisfactory
record is that which preserves the name of " Juncta Capitenus
pictor," as having sworn fealty in 1255 to the Archbishop Federigo
Visconti of Pisa. 2
That Giunta painted in the first half of the thirteenth century
is a fact confirmed as much by the foregoing record as by the
evidence of style ; and as in the Crucifix of S. Raineri e Leonardo
a genuine example of the master is extant, one may accept or
reject the works assigned to him, according as they approach or
recede from the original pattern. Setting aside, for this reason,
two Crucifixes in the Cappella Maggiore of the Campo Santo, 3 a
third, colossal, in the hospital of Pisa, so dark from age and position
that it can hardly be distinguished, and a fourth in S. Caterina
of Siena, 4 Giunta may be followed to Assisi where after 1220 he is
said to have painted in the Upper Church of S. Francesco. The
annalists of Pisa, Wadding and Father Angcli, vouch for the truth
of statements according to which Giunta painted a Crucifixion
with Father Elias, the first general of the Franciscans, embracing
the foot of the Cross, on a large panel which hung until 1624 on a
transom in this edifice. 5 The inscription :
FBATBB . ELIAS . FIERI FECIT
JESU CHRISTE PIE
MISERERE PRECANTIS HELIE
GIUNTA PISANUS ME PINXIT A.D. 1236.
IND. 9
would fix the date of Giunta's presence at Assisi, and his residence
there. And the probability of this fact is confirmed by the
existence of a Crucifix in S. Maria degli Angeli, inscribed with the
words
. . . NTA PISANUS
ITI P. ME FECIT.
Though here the head of the Crucified Redeemer, as well as that
of the Saviour in glory above it, is almost gone, the forms and
1 Colle is a village near Florence.
2 See MORBONA, Pis. IUu*t. 9 vol. ii., p. 116 and following.
3 As being by other hands, and repainted.
* From S. Crestina of Pisa, MOHRONA, Pis. Ifluet., vol. ii., p. 142. ^
6 See the passages quoted in MORRONA, Pis. XUust^ vol. ii., p. 126 and
following.
142 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
execution closely resemble those of the Crucifix of S. Raineri e
Leonardo at Pisa ; whilst they also display, with more distinctness
than the latter, those of the Crucifix of S. Pierino. The usual
half figures of the Virgin and Evangelist on the horizontal limb
likewise betray the style of Giunta, whilst two figures at the sides
which are in the manner of Niccola da Foligno may be taken as
additions of a later period.
Time has almost obliterated the painted decorations of the
transepts and choir of the Upper Church of Assisi, assigned partly
to Giunta and partly to Cimabue. 1 That the former laboured there
is affirmed by Wadding and Angeli on the authority of the con
ventual records, 2 and probable from the style of the work, which
is that of a rude artist of the early part of the thirteenth century ;
but by the side of these early paintings are others, likewise of,
early date, of no very high pretension, but in a different manner ;
and, with all deference to the opinion of Rumohr, 3 it may be
possible and not unimportant to determine which are the earlier
of the two, always bearing in mind, however, that great part of
what remains is mutilated and damaged as regards colour, whilst
in general the contours remain, where the plaster has not fallen or
been removed, A large stone altar in the western side of the
south transept has almost entirely cut away a Crucifixion, of which
the upper part is obliterated, whilst a half figure of the Virgin
falling backwards in a swoon, and pieces of figures, nimbuses in
relief, and angels are all that can be seen of the lower. In this
figure of the Virgin the spectator may yet discern in the long head,
projecting brow, and depressed nose, in the broad red outlines and
angular draperies, coarsely traced in black, the defects of a painter
who, like Giunta, lived before the revival of art. In the large
flaws, he may remark that the painting was upon a single intonaco,
and that the original design was sketched on the bare wall, whilst,
as regards colour, a slight shade of yellow in the flesh, apparently
laid in as tempera, is all that remains. Along the arches of the
colonnade which divides the upper from the lower course of the
edifice and serves as a practicable gallery, medallions seem to have
contained the forms of angels, and prophets to have adorned the
1 The paintings of the choir are assigned by VASABI, vol. i., p. 223, to
CSmabue.
2 See in MORRONA, Pis Must., vol. ii., p. 119.
a BUMOHB (Forscfmngen, vol. ii;, p, 37) thinks it impossible and un
important to attempt discovering the masters who may have painted in
the Upper Church of Assisi in the thirteenth century.
S. FRANCESCO OF ASSISI 143
walls of the gallery itself. In the lunette, the Transfiguration
was originally depicted. All this, where the design exists, reveals
the same hand, which may be traced likewise in the three divisions
of the end wall of the transept. Of these one is obliterated whilst
the two others represent in mere outline the Crucifixion of S. Peter,
and Simon Magus carried away by the ministers of Satan. In
the latter, the vehement action of the old style may be noticed,
and would alone suffice to prove that the painter preserved the
forms and peculiarities of an art approaching extinction. 1 In the
lunette above the window are the figures of the angel appearing to
Mary. The east face of the transept is bare ; but in the pentagonal
choir are still remains of painting. In the first side, the artist
evidently intended to delineate the Saviour and the Virgin on a
common throne with angels singing about it, and on the colonnade
of the gallery, prophets ; in the second, the Death of the Virgin of
which that portion remains which depicts her carried to heaven
in an elliptical glory by angels ; in the third, above a great throne,
two portraits of popes; in the fourth, the Death of the Virgin,
of which all that is now visible is a figure of the Saviour with her
infant form in his arms ; in the fifth the Birth of Mary, with S. Anna
lying on the bed in the antique attitude. In the lunettes of the
choir were scenes from the Old Testament. Painting here generally
was subordinate, as in the Baptistery of Parma, to a general archi
tectural arrangement, the arches, recesses, cornices, and columns
being coloured, and, with the painted subjects, subservient to a
general harmony.
The end wall of the north transept was divided, like that of
the southern, into three parts, in which are vestiges of the Saviour
enthroned in an elliptical glory supported by four angels blowing
trumpets ; vague remains of four winged skeletons, with heads
of aged men and horns in their hands in a landscape, and between
these two compositions, one, figuring a throne with the symbols
of the Four Evangelists and angels. The Saviour in glory is
characterised by paltry forms and a large head. A vast circular
wig of hair with a heavy forelock overhangs a broad forehead and
semicircular eyebrows. The nose seems to start from a projecting
triangular root and is flattened at the end ; and the face is ter
minated by a small pointed chin and beard. These were features
less characteristic of Giunta than of Cimabue's manner. The
blue draperies, of which the red preparation alone remainSj are
1 See a print of the painting in AGINCOUET.
144 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
less angular than those of the fainting Virgin in the opposite transept.
The hands and feet are defective and broad. The angels blowing
trumpets are of a heavy and rotund form, with short round noses
and chins, and expanded cheeks. The whole is painted over verde,
which served for the semitones, whilst the shadows are red. Above
the gallery are angels and saints, as in the colonnade of the western
face, where they are of a jcolossal character, but in a great measure
obliterated. Taking the paintings of both transepts into com
parison, it is obvious that those of the southern are older in date
and inferior in character to those of the northern. The paintings
of the choir, assigned by Vasari to Cimabue, it may be difficult
to judge, but those of the northern transept certainly make a nearer
approach to the style of Cimabue than to that of Giunta.
It is but natural that Giunta, having lived and painted about
the time when the fame of S. Francis had been increased by
canonisation, should be associated in name with the so-called
portrait of the saint in the sacristy of the great sanctuary. This
work, 1 if examined more particularly in an artistic sense, did not
differ much hi execution from that of the successors of Giunta,
but was painted with much body of yellowish colour, shadowed
in dark tones, and outlined in black, and might date as far back
as the close of the thirteenth century. The pictures in the small
compartments are composed of figures in the usual exaggerated
manner of the time. The effigy of S. Francis was repeated an
hundred times in this form in the convents of his order, and a
sample, nearer in style to the foregoing than others, may be seen
somewhat damaged in the Museo Cristiano at the Vatican. 2
After Giunta, art did not revive at Pisa. It maintained itself
at a low level in every sense, improving neither in types, form,
nor execution, yet producing still with an industry truly tiring.
Nor are examples of this nature confined to Pisa. A specimen of
the feeblest kind may be found, in the shape of a Crucifix, at
S. Bernardino of Perugia, inscribed " ANNO DOMINI MCCLXXI.
GREGOBH P. P. x.' 5 At Pistoia, in the ante-chamber of the chapter
of the cathedral, is a Crucifix, exaggerating all the defects previously
noticed, 3 and repeating the well-known scenes of the Passion, almost
as at S. Marta of Pisa. Yet it cannot be said that the painter was
a Pisan since artists obviously existed at Pistoia as elsewhere, and
1 See postea, comparison between this and other portraits of S. Francis.
2 Case No. 19.
3 Livid in flesh tone, but light in general colour, and the high lights
almost white ; much impasto.
SUCCESSORS OF GIUNTA 145
the name of Manfredino d' Alberto is preserved as the author in
1290 of frescoes in the sacristy of S. Proeolo.
Another unpleasant example of Crucifixes in this century may
be found at S. Eustorgio in Milan, probably by one Fra Gabrio of
Cremona, 1 which combines every sort of defect, and represents
the Saviour hanging out from the Cross in the most contorsive
movement.
Towards the close of the thirteenth century at Pisa, the names
of painters become more frequent in records. " Giucchus, pictor,
filius Bindi Giucchi pictoris," appears in a chart of 1290-1300, 2
whilst in the works of the Duomo, several mosaists and painters
are mentioned immediately previous to the arrival of Cimabue.
Amongst these, the chief, no doubt, was Francesco, who in 1301
(new style) held the office of capo-maestro for the mosaics of the
great tribune, and who afterwards, with his assistant Lapo and
his son Vittorio, was the colleague of the Florentine in that work. 3
In subordinate employ were Gavoccius, 4 Barile, Cagnassus, Par-
duccius, Povagansa, and Turetto, 5 Tanus, and Ghele di S, Mar
garita. 6 Contemporary with these, but not regularly employed
in the Duomo, though equally unknown by their works, were
Vanni of Siena, supposed to be the father of a line of painters, 7
Bordone di Buoncristiano, his son Colino, 8 Vivaldo and Paganello, 9
all living at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Yet of
pictures as old as the thirteenth century Pisa possesses few ;
and these are by no means productions of merit. The oldest that
1 Consult MS. Chron, of the Dominican, Galvano Fiamina at Milan,
who assigns this Crucifix to the year 1288 and to Fra Gabrio of Cremona.
2 Bindus had painted in the cloisters of S. Catherine of Pisa. See Mem.
tflllust. Pis., vol. i., p. 258, by TEMPESTI, extr. in Arch. Star., vol. vi., p. 495,
The chart mentioned in text is No. 1110 of the Archiwo Arcivescovile in
BONAINI, Notizie Ined., p. 88.
3 Uguccio Grugni and Jacobus Murci were then superintendents of the
Duomo. Francesco's daily pay was 10 soldi, the same as Cimabue after
wards received. Vittorio works later (1302) for 4 soldi 8 den. See BONAINI,
who quotes the original records, and corrects Rosini's statement that Fran
cesco was capo-maestro after Cimabue. (Notizie Ined., pp. 90, 91, 92.)
4 As " puer " or ** famulus " at 8 den. per diem. Ibid., p. 86.
5 The first four seem mere labourers j Turetto was a mosaist, and has
been confounded probably with Fra Jacopo (di Torrita) by VASABI (vol. i.,
p. 285). Ibid., p. 89.
6 These two are painters. Ibid., p. 92.
7 Vannes quondam Boni painted in 1302 for 9 lire the hall of the Com-
pagnia d'Arme della Cerva Nera, and gilded a Virgin and Child above the
portal of the Duomo. BONAINI, pp. 88, 89.
8 The first is known as a painter of banners; the second had more
extensive employment, BONAINI, p. 90.
9 The latter, alive 1304; the former dead in the same year. Ibid., p. 94.
I. K
146 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
can be pointed out is perhaps a Virgin and Child in the Academy
of Pisa, with S. Martin on horseback on the pediment, and incidents
of the life of the Saviour at each side. This picture, assigned to
Cimabue l has something of his manner in the action of the ugly
infant Saviour, whilst the Virgin betrays, in the depressed nose
and black outlines, the hand of one continuing the style of Giunta.
Another picture in five arched compartments in the same Academy,
representing half figures of the Saviour in the act of benediction
between the Virgin and S. John Evangelist, S. Sylvester, and
S. Catherine, has been assigned to Giunta, 2 but displays the defects
common to the beginning of the fourteenth century, combined
with that lighter style of colouring which may already be noticed
in the latest work of the Lucchese, Deodato Orlandi. Nor indeed
is there much difference, in the mode of drawing the sharp features
and ugly hands of the Redeemer, between this and the third-rate
productions of the painters of Lucca. 3
Pisa therefore in the thirteenth century, though great for its
school of sculpture, was feeble as regards painting. Her artists
produced, besides Crucifixes, vast works such as those of S. Pietro
in Grado and Assisi ; but they displayed no peculiarities which
can be called exclusively Pisan. They betrayed, on the contrary, a
character common to painters throughout the whole of Italy, to
the artists of Parma, of S. Angelo near Capua, and even of Rome.
The list might be increased indeed by the productions of those
early workmen who in 1237 executed, in the palace of the Podesta
at S. Gimignano, the incidents of a hunt of which some vestiges
still exist men of small attainments, and more rude in talents
than those who painted the central aisle of the Lower Church of
Assisi. 4
At Siena, the parent stock of S. Gimignano, art shared the
mediocrity of Pisa and of Lucca. In the oldest example of a
school which was afterwards to occupy the second rank in Italy,
a lunette fresco of the Saviour, with one arm raised, and the other
holding a scroll, in the front of the church of S. Bartolommeo,
1 [By an artist very close to Cimabue, says VENTURI, op. tit., vol. v.,
p. 55 et seq. He gives a full description of it.]
* MOBRONA, Pis. Ittust., vol. ii., p. 142. This picture was, in Morrona's
time, in the church of S. Silvestro of Pisa,
3 The tones of the draperies in this picture are light, gay, and shot with
gold.
* In November 1237, a number of young Florentines obtained permission
to hunt in the woods of the " Comune " at S. Gimignano ; and the expense
was borne by the city. See PECORI (Cano. Luigi), Storia detta Terra di S.
Qimignano (8vo, Flop., 1&53), p. 565.
EARLY SIENESE ART 147
the slight figure, regular head, and sharp features, the straight
draperies and stippled execution, betrayed no characteristics by
which the painter could be distinguished from those of his class
elsewhere. In a Virgin and Child preserved at the oratory of
S. Ansano in Castel Vecchio, 1 the system of mixed relief and paint
ing betrayed a community of thought and education between the
artist and those of neighbouring cities. The execution was feebler
indeed than that of the Crucifix of the earlier period at Lucca ;
yet if it were true that this Virgin was produced in commemoration
of the decisive battle of Monte Aperto (1260), it might be con
sidered that the painter was one of the ablest of his time. The
Madonnas of Tressa, of the Carmine, and of Betlem, of which so
much has been said, and to so little purpose, may be passed over,
as no excuse is needed for withholding an opinion upon works so
extensively repaired, but others of the early part of the thirteenth
century only confirm the belief that Sienese art shared the common
degeneracy. The custom of combining the plastic and pictorial
was maintained; and altarpieces are preserved in the Academy
of Arts sufficient to demonstrate the poverty of that species of
production. Without multiplying examples,^ it may be sufficient
to notice a " paliotto " 2 of 1215 representing the Redeemer in the
act of benediction in an elliptical glory between two angels and
the symbols of the Evangelists, in which the latter, as well as the
Saviour, are painted reliefs. In later pictures, where relief was
not used, equal feebleness may be traced, as in the Saviour blessing
and holding the book between the Virgin and Evangelist ; 3 in
S. John enthroned and blessing, with a diadem stuffed with glass
stones, whilst, on each side are six scenes from his life, composed
of animated figures, painted in a clear tempera of much body in
the lights and verde in the shadows ; 4 in S. Peter, likewise
enthroned, with three incidents of his life in small panels on each
side; 5 and finally in a Crucifix from S. Chiara of S. Gimignano, in
which the Saviour is presented in the old attitude with the usual
1 [Now in Museo del Opera del Duomo, Siena, VENTORI gives a photo
graph (op. ciL, v, 37, fig. 28).]
2 [No. 1 Galleria of Siena.] Three little incidents are at each side, repre
senting gaily coloured, but ill drawn, episodes of the Passion. This altar-
piece is inscribed : " ANNO DOMINI MTLLESIMO ocxv. MENSE NOVEMBBI HJEO
TABULA FACTA EST." It comes from the church of the Badia Berardenga.
3 [Nos. a, 14, and 15 Galleria of Siena.]
4 The pictures are from the suppressed convent of S. Petronilla agli
Umiliati.
5 [No. 15 Galleria of Siena.] See also the same general features in others
of the same collection.
148 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
scenes of the Passion at His sides. 1 Yet if Sienese painters failed
to give an impulse to art, the cause lay in no wise in want of
encouragement, or in the absence of rivalry. The early school
of the old Ghibelline state is, in the thirteenth century, richer
in names than the Florentine. The building of its cathedral was
commenced and diligently pursued. Mosaics were commissioned
for its front. 2 Pictures, commemorative and votive, were ordered
for churches and public edifices, amongst which the Palazzo
Pubblico was the chief. Justice and law owed some of their
efficacy perhaps to artists who painted the likeness of criminals,
pilloried in effigy on the great square of the city. Banners and
flags were adorned, 3 and even the registers of public offices were
covered with portraits of the officials who kept them, or with the
arms of the people and " comune." 4 The commissions for most
of these paintings unfortunately, in most instances, outlived the
works themselves ; but amongst the latter class some specimens
have been preserved which reveal the style and manner of Gilio 5
and Dietisalvi. 6 The latter appears indeed from 1264 to 1276
as a monopolist of this sort of work in Siena. Four book covers,
adorned with portraits of the clerks of the Camarlingo cli Biccherna,
are preserved in the Archivio di Stato. The first by Maestro Gilio,
representing a monk of S. Galgano in a white dress, seated in
profile on a chair, is dated 1257. Two others by Dietisalvi, of 1264
and 1269, are portraits of one Ildobrandino Pagliarese ; the fourth,
of 1276, likewise by Dietisalvi, represents Jacobo di Rodilla. 7
These four figures, interesting on account of their age and authen-
1 [No. 11 Galleria of Siena.]
2 Of Michele de Ser Memmo, a goldsmith and mosaist, who executed for
the facade a figure of the archangel Michael, and who lived between 1340
and 1370. (Doc. Sen., MILANESI, vol. i., p. 103-4.)
3 Painter^ of banners in 1262 are Piero, Bonamico, and Parabuoi. See
Arch. deUa Biccherna in E.UMOHB (Forschungen, vol. ii., p. 23).
* [On this subject cf. among others LISINI, Le Tavolette Dipinte di
Biccherna e di GfabeUa di R. Archivio di Stato in Siena (N.D.), and HEYWOOD,
A Pictorial Chronicle of Siena (Siena, 1902).]
5 Gilio is noticed in BELLA VALUE, Lettere Sanese, vol. i., p. 241.
8 Dietisalvi Petroni appears first .in records of 1267 as painter of the
arms of the Camarlingo ; in 1269-70 as painter of the books of the Camar
lingo, for which work he received 10 soldi. Again, of similar work in 1281-2,
and finally in 1290 of a picture of a " Majesty " in the Palazzo Pubblico.
See BTTMOHB, Forschungen, vol. ii., p. 25, and DBLLA VALUE, Lettere Sanese,
voL i, p. 241. In 1292, one Vigoroso painted books for the Camarlingo,
and there are notices of Guido Gratiani, of whom a word later, Jacomino,
Morsdlo CiH, and Castellino Pieri, painters. BUMOHB, ubi sup., pp. 24, 25.
[Cf. HEYWOOD, op. e&, p. 23, note 5.]
7 [The Tavoletta of 1276 bears a portrait of Dom Bartolommeo, monk
of S. Galgano. It is by an unknown artist. Cf. HEYWOOD, op. tit., p. 106.]
EARLY SIENESE ART 149
ticity, are painted \vith a viscous colour of much impasto on a
general ground of verde, shadowed in black and tinged on the
lips with dark red. They reveal no sensible progress in the art
of the time. 1 .
Omitting here a Madonna assigned to Dietisalvi in the convent
church of the Servi at Siena, 2 which appears to have been the
work of Coppo di Marcovaldo, a Florentine, and a St. George
of the fifteenth century in the sacristy of S. Cristoforo at Siena,
engraved by Rosini as the work of Salvanello, 3 a Sienese artist of
the early time, it will be interesting to pause before a picture in
the Academy of Arts at Siena, assigned to Guido, 4 representing a
hah figure of the Virgin and Child in a frame, at the angles of
which are two flying angels.
The Virgin, vast in shape, points with her right hand to the Infant
on her knee, who gives the benediction and grasps a scroll in His left
hand. Her round head, a little bent, and supported on a slender neck,
is most disagreeable to contemplate. The nose, starting from a pro
jecting angular root, terminates in a broad depression, flanked by two
large nostrils. The arched lines of the brow are but the continuation
of a long curved lid extending towards the temple far beyond the outer
corner of the eye. The canthus, instead of forming a loop as in nature,
is drawn at a drooping acute angle. The iris, instead of being round,
is oblong, and thus conveys an unnatural expression of ecstasy. The
mouth is indicated by dark lines and by two black points at the corners.
Outlines, red in light, black in shadow, bound the form, which is coloured
in flat tones of enamelled surface, placed side by side as in works of
1 A complete series of examples of this kind may be seen in the collection
of M. Ramboux at Cologne, and though of slight importance, being small
matters and damaged, may yet be noticed. "She series extends from the
earliest times of Sienese art to 1492. In it one may remark No. 338, a
portrait by Dietisalvi of Don Bartolommeo di Alesis, paid at the rate of
8 soldi date 1278. 339, a similar portrait of Guido, a monk, by Rinaldo
date 1279. No. 340, portrait dated 1282, assigned to Duccio on the
strength of a record of the time. No. 341, date 1296, and so on. Finally,
No. 354, a figure of the " Reggimento " of Siena, with persons around hold
ing attributes, such as may be noticed later, date 1363.
2 Engraved by BOSINT in the atlas to his Storia detta Pittura table vi.,
as by Dietisalvi ; but see later.
* Salvanello is mentioned by DELTA VAT.TVR, Lettere Sane&e, as a painter
at Siena in 1274. The S. George is so obviously of the fifteenth century,
that it is difficult to understand Rosinfs error. It represents the saint
striking at the dragon, whose tail is wound round the leg of the horse. On
the breast grip of the martingale are the arms of Siena, In the distance,
a landscape, with the usual female, is relieved on a golden sky. The
costume of S. George is of the fifteenth century, the drawing very precise
and in the style of the painter Giovanni di Paolo, though better than in
the usual run of his works.
4 [No. 16 Galleria of Siena.]
150 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
marquetry. The hands are thin and inarticulate. The mantle,
falling over a close cap to the shoulders, and partly covering a red tunic,
shot with gold, is fairly accurate in fold, but lined with mazes of angular
and meaningless strokes. The nimbus is full of glass stones. The
same class of features, design, and draperies marks the infant Saviour,
whose ears are of an enormous size.
In character, this painting reveals the hand of one who lived
between A.D. 1250 and 1300, and, if it be by Guido, would prove
that he was of the close, not of the rise of the thirteenth century.
This minute description was necessary, as it may help to elucidate
a question which has long engrossed critical attention, and involves
Sienese and Florentine claims to the title of regenerators of Italian
art. It is well known that the church of S. Domenico of Siena
contains a picture by Guido, 1 which apparently establishes the
supremacy of Siena over Florence.
This picture represents the Virgin and Saviour enthroned in an
arch of three curves, above which three angels stand at each side. In
the triangular pinnacle, now in the convent of the Benedictines of
Siena, 2 the half figure of the Saviour with the book, in the act of
benediction, stands between two angels. The vast throne in which
the Virgin sits is adorned with abundant tracery, and lined with a
drapery. She points with her right hand to the Saviour, who sits
crosslegged, in a yellow and gold tunic, on her lap. In her large and
angular form, as in that of the angels and of the Saviour in glory on
the pinnacle in the drawing and draperies, the peculiarities and
defects of the latter half of the thirteenth century may be traced. A
striking resemblance may indeed be noticed, in this respect, between
the Virgin of the Siena Academy and that of S. Domenico. The hands
of the Madonna are thin and inarticulate, the outlines red in light and
black in the shadows. The draperies are shot with mazes of gold
lines. In the Christ on the pinnacle, as well as in all the figures of
angels, the features are drawn in the style of the Virgin of the Siena
Academy : the former, with a vast circular wig and forelock, a wrinkled
forehead, arched brows and long tailed eyelids, the angels with ugly
1 [Now in Palazzo Pubblico.]
2 The convent of the church of S. Domenico. This pinnacle was in its
place when RUMOHR wrote. See Forschungen, vol. L, p. 335. The whole
altarpiece, according to Tizio, was in his time on the altar of the Chapel
de' Capaci to the left on entering the church of S. Domenico, and had been
previously in the church of S. Gregorio. It was originally a triptych, and
Tizio says that the wings hung apart from the centre on the walls of the
church of S. Domenico. According to Padre Carapelli in Chronotaxis Sancti
Dofmmd i/n Camporeggio, the altarpiece, which had been long above the
portal in S. Domenica, was in 1705 placed on the altar of the chapel of the
venturini. See MTT.ANBSI (GAET.), Delia Vera Et& di Guido, Pittore Saneae
(Svo, Siena, 1S59}, pp, 3, 4.
GUIDO OF SIENA 151
faces and paltry forms. The flesh tints are mapped out in abrupt
and sharp tones, and side by side, without fusion ; the lips and cheeks
spotted with red. If, however, the head of the Virgin and Child be
examined, a new and different style may be observed in them ; and
one may remark that beneath the painting of those parts, such as they
stand at present, the engraved outlines of other and larger forms can
be traced, whilst at the same time the lesser and newer ones are in a
style totally different from that of the rest of the picture, or generally
of the thirteenth century.
That artists of the fourteenth did not disdain to repaint pictures
of earlier masters is proved by a record of the year 1335, in which
Ambrogio Lorenzetti contracts to execute anew " the face, hands,
and book of the Virgin of the Duomo." * The flesh parts of the
Madonna's head in the altarpiece of S. Domenico are executed in
the technical method common to Cimabue, for instance, in the
picture of S. Maria Novella at Florence, to Duccio, Ugolino, Simone
Martini, and others of the Sienese school of tbe fourteenth century.
Although that school was celebrated for maintaining old and
typical forms, it did not remain so faithful to one, exact and
immutable, but that one may follow the difference between types
and outlines of tbe thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The
type, outline, and drawing of tbe heads of tbe Virgin and Child of
S. Domenico are those of the fourteenth century, and quite as good
as those of Duccio and Ugolino. The shape is more pleasing, the
eyes more natural and regular, but, above all, the execution is
different from that of the rest of the altarpiece. Instead of sharply
contrasted tones without fusion, a light flesh is painted over a
general tone of verde which forms the shadow, and is fused care
fully in the passage to half shades. Tbe lips and cheeks are of a
more natural colour. So again with the head of the Infant. The
type is newer, more pleasant and less grim, the colour carefully
melted together. 2
At tbe base of the picture is an inscription all but perfect in its
letters, but, strangely enough, carried up at its close from the border
of the panel to that of the Virgin's dress. It reads as follows :
ME GU . . . O DE SENIS DIEBUS DEPINXIT AMENIS ;
QUEM XPS LENIS NULLIS VELTT AGERE PENIS : ANO B 1
MCCXXL
1 G. MIIANESI, Doc. Sen., vol. i, p. 195.
2 The dress of the Virgin has been repainted in parts and at various
periods, some patches being in oil. One of the angels that to the Saviour's
right, on the pinnacle was totally renewed apparently in the fourteenth
century.
152 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
That this inscription has often been retouched and, in some
places, even repainted in oil, is evident from inspection. Gaetano
Milanesi 1 affirms indeed that the whole signature is in more modern
character than was used in the beginning of the thirteenth century,
Be this as it may, the picture, had it remained unchanged as
regards the heads of the Virgin and infant Saviour, would have
created no controversy, but have been classed with the Madonna
of the Academy assigned to Guido amongst the works of the
thirteenth century, which indicate that art merely existed at
Siena at the same level as in Lnicca, Pisa, and elsewhere. The
heads of the Virgin and Saviour in the altarpiece of S. Domenico
alone justify the encomiums lavished on Guido ; but as they are
evidently not by him, but by a later painter of the Sienese school,
the wonder ceases, and Cimabue remains entitled to the position
of first regenerator of Italian art. The arguments against Guido
are not, however, exhausted by the evidence that painting till
late in the thirteenth century maintained itself at a comparatively
low standard in Siena, or that the picture assigned to the year 1221
bears an altered inscription. All the industry of Delia Valle,
of Rumohr, and of Milanesi has failed to discover records of a
painter named Guido earlier than 1278. One Guido Gratiani is
noticed in an account of the Camarlingo di Biccherna of that year 2
as the painter of a banner. He superseded Dietisalvi in 1287,
1290, 1298 as painter of the books of the Biccherna. 3 He executed
in 1295 a " Majesty between S. Peter and S. Paul " in the Public
Palace of Siena, and gilded 300 letters for an image of the Virgin,
In 1302, he produced the portraits of twelve forgers for the front
of the Tribunal of Justice. 4 Guido was one of three sons of Gratiano,
and lived in the Parocchia di S. Donato ai Montanini, the painters'
quarter, celebrated for its street called the Via de' Pittori. He
brought up to his profession a son named Bartolommeo, or Meo,
1 GAETANO MILANESI, Delia Vera Et& di G-u'ido Pittore Sanese, i\bi sup^
p. 7. He finds between the MGC and the xx space for an L and after xx
space for two other letters ; for this reason he thinks the picture by Guido
Gratiani, of whom something must be said hereafter. Thus, even the more
modern restoration would, according to this view, have been partly
obliterated.
2 G. MILANESI, Delia Vera Bib, Ac., p. 0.
3 Ibid., and RITMOHR, Forschungen, vol. ii., p. 24.
4 In the Bamboux collection at Cologne, under No. 24, is a Nativity,
of the Sienese school, of the close of the thirteenth century, whose execu
tion and style recall that of the angels in the altarpiece of S. Domonico by
Guido. This would justify the name given by M. Ramboux. The corn-
position is repeated by Duceio a little later in the great altarpiece of the
Duomo,
EARLY PAINTING AT AKEZZO 153
who afterwards settled at Perugia (1319) and painted for the
church of Montelabate. Guido's brothers, Mino 1 and Guarnieri
or Neri, were artists also. The former, in 1289, painted a Virgin
and Saints for the hall of the Great Council in the old Palazzo
Pubblico of Siena. He worked in another part of the same edifice
in 1293, and in 1298 produced the portraits of several false witnesses.
In 1303, he executed a S. Christopher in the Palazzo, and, 1329,
disappears from the public records. Of Guarnieri nothing is known
but that he left behind him three sons, Giacomuecio or Muccio,
Ugolino, and Guido, who in 1321 was matriculated as a painter
in the Company of Surgeons and Grocers of Florence. 2
Siena can lay no claim to superiority in art during the thirteenth
century. She was indebted to Niccola and Giovanni for the
chief ornament of her cathedral ; and, under the guidance of these
and other strangers, the school of which Agnolo and Agostino
were the ornaments arose in 1300. Her children rivalled the
Florentines in the art of painting, but only after dmabue. Whilst
her Duccio, Ugolino, Simone, and Lorenzetti are entitled to well-
deserved admiration, their influence remained ever second to that
of Florence.
Painting may be said to have followed much the same course
at Arezzo as at Lucca, Pisa, and Siena. Crucifixes, portraits of
S. Francis, and a few Madonnas were the staple of its production,
and these were of a more decidedly repulsive character than the
works of other Italian cities. A small Crucifix, of the close of the
twelfth century at S. Maria della Pieve, in the old form, in which
the Saviour, half size of life, stands erect and open-eyed ; another,
of the same character and date, in the Chapel del Sacramento,
contiguous to the Collegiata of Castiglione Aretino; and a third,
colossal, of a later period, in S. Domenico of Arezzo, in which the
1 See the amusing error of DELLA VALLE in the Lettere Saneae, vol. i.,
p. 282, who confounds Mino with Torriti. See also, later, the question of
Mino and Simone Martini as to whether the former had a share in the large
fresco of the Virgin and Saints in the Sala del Consiglio of the Palazzo Pubblico.
SACCHETTI, in his 84 Novella (ubi &up., vol. ii., p. 45), gives a picture of Mino's
shop, in which stood six Crucifixes, four of which were of carved wood and
two painted, all leaning against the wall of the bottega and standing on a
desk, ready for customers. Mino one night surprises his wife, who seems to
have been of frail manners, and her gallant saves himself by assuming the
attitude of the Redeemer against one of the crucifixes.
2 See G. MILANESE, Delia Vera Ei&. &c., p. 9. Other painters of this
period, equally unrepresented by authentic works, are mentioned by BELLA
VALLE, Lettere Sanese .-1262, Ventura di Gualtieri ; 1271, Binaldo ; 1281,
Bomano di Paganello ; 1289, Guccio ; 1293, Binforzato, Minuccio di
Filipuccio ; 1298, Vanni di Bono, already recorded at Pisa.
154 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
feet of the Saviour are still separate, but tlae belly and hips over
hang, mark the progress of the same decline at Arezzo as else
where. 1
Margaritone inherited and prolonged the agony of this degenerate
style. He stood in the same relation to Arezzo as Giunta to Pisa,
and would never have emerged from obscurity had not Vasari
been moved by a laudable desire to rescue the art of his native
city from oblivion. He was born apparently about 1236, 2 had
certainly reached the age of manhood in 1262, 3 and lived long
enough to shrink before the praises so justly due to Cimabue and
Giotto. 4 He is said to have laboriously executed frescoes in
S. Clemente of the Camaldolese of Arezzo ; but they are certainly
not to be regretted, 6 if they resembled other productions from his
hand, such as a Madonna and a colossal Crucifix with S. Francis
at the foot of the Cross, in S. Francesco of Arezzo, 6 both darkened
in colour and executed without spirit, knowledge of design, or
movement. 7 These two works of Margaritone are, it is true,
without authentic signatures; but they are noticed by Vasari,
and are exactly in the style of two altarpieces signed with Margari-
tone's name, lately in the Ugo Baldi collection. The first of these
has found its final resting-place in the National Gallery. It
represents the Virgin and Child in an elliptical glory supported
by angels, with the symbols of the Evangelists ; and, on the sides,
scenes from the life of S. John the Evangelist, S. Catherine, S. Bene
dict, and S. Margaret. 8 The second represents S. Nicholas in
cathedra, with four episodes of his life at the sides. 9 Both these
1 This Crucifix has indeed much the character of those of Margaritone.
The yellowish lights are painted over a general tone of verde.
2 VASARI, vol. L, p. 308.
3 A record of the convent of S. Michael at Arezzo contains the name
of Margarita pictor filius quondam Magnani, and the date 1261. Annot. to
VAS., voL i., p. 302.
< VASARI, vol. i., p. 302.
5 They perished with the church in 1547.
ft [Now in ths Museo,]
7 These works are assigned to Margaritone by Vasari, and still exist.
See VAS., vol. i., p. 303.
8 This picture, now in the National Gallery [No. 564], was long considered
lost, having disappeared when the great transom of the church of S.
Margaret of Arezzo, on which it hung, was removed. It is signed " MABGARIT.
BE ABmo ME FECIT." Vas&rTs wonder at the duration of this work would
be increased had he lived till now. Yet one may express surprise at his
remark that " a picture on canvas should have been preserved so long "
(voL i., p. 303). The canvas in question is primed and stretched on gesso
like all otters of the time. See LANZE'S curious error in reproducing Vasari's
remarks, voL L (Rcwxufs trandaMon, Bohn, London, 1847), p. 37.
9 Vasari notes a picture at S. Niceola of Arezzo, which is probably this
one. VAS., voL i., p. 307.
MARGARITONE 155
works are repulsive, coloured like playing cards, and of that
childish style common to the Lucchese, Pisan, and Sienese schools
of the thirteenth century. Yet Margaritone was not without a
spark of pride as to the value of his works, if it be true that as a
token of gratitude for the spirit with which Farinata degli Uberti
saved his country from danger and ruin, he presented to the great
Florentine a colossal Crucifix " alia greca." l This Crucifix, adds
Vasari, " is now in Santa Croce between the Peruzzi and Giugni
chapels." Now, such an one, assigned to Margaritone, is sus
pended in an antechamber common to the sacristy and chapel of
the novitiate of that church, but displays less the feeble manner
of the Aretine than that of a second-rate painter of the fourteenth
century. A second, in the same edifice, of older date than the
foregoing, may likewise be seen in the sacristy. The attitude of
the Saviour and the parted feet indicate an artist of the close of
the thirteenth century, and therefore a contemporary of Margaritone
and Cimabue ; but the warm flesh tones, shadowed in grey, are
less characteristic of the former than of a Florentine who laboured
in the vicinity of the latter. Less distant from the style of the
Aretine is a Crucifix, much damaged and darkened by age, in a
passage leading to the sacristy of S. Francesco at Castiglione
Aretino, in which the Saviour is made fast with four nails, the
Magdalen grasps the foot of the Cross, and the usual episodes com
plete the ornament of the fatal instrument. Nothing can be
more curious or more calculated to convince the spectator of the
deep decline of art, than the effort to render the anatomy of the
human body an effort, which consisted in representing the veins
of the legs in relief. 2
Margaritone's chief industry seems, however, to have been
the constant reproduction of the figure of S. Francis, of which
numerous examples are preserved. The least repulsive is perhaps
that which hangs in the convent of the Cappuccini at Sargiano,
near Arezzo, where the saint is represented a little less than life
size, holding the book, showing the Stigma on his right hand, in
frock and cowl, and on tiptoe. 3 The head may be called regular
in form, the figure stout, and in this contrasting with the portrait
1 VASAEI, vol. i., p. 304. This would have occurred in 1260.
2 Vasari assigns to Margaritone a Crucifix on a transom in the Upper
Church of Assisi, thus unconsciously robbing Giunta of one of his works.
3 Does Vasari, when he speaks of this as " ritratio d& naturale," mean that
it was painted from life, or only life size t Surely the latter. V^s., voL i.,
pp. 303-4.
156 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
by Berlinghieri. The features are, however, expressed in the most
elementary manner, the mouth with a zigzag stroke of red, wrinkles
with parti-coloured streaks. The extremities are rude and ill
drawn, with the nails of the fingers and toes out of place, the
draperies tortuous, and the colour, of full body in lights, super
posed above a general tint of grey. 1 In Santa Croce at Florence
the altar of S. Francesco is honoured by one of these portraits,
with eight episodes on each side, four below the feet, and a tree
of the order between two angels at the top. 2 The name of Cimabue
has been falsely exchanged here for that of another painter, whose
enamel colour, darkened by age, whose general style are very like
those of Margaritone ; 3 nor is this a solitary example. A
S. Francis with sixteen side pictures, of old assigned to Lippo
Memmi, 4 may be seen in the Cappella Bracciolini at S. Francesco
of Pistoia, another in the convent of S. Francesco of Pisa. 5 The
same figure in S. Francesco outside Sinigaglia, signed "Margari-
tonis devotio me fecit," has not been preserved, 6 but in its place
is one without a* signature. Three more exist in S. Francesco of
Castiglione Aretino, in the Academy of Arts at Siena, 7 and in the
Museo Cristiano at the Vatican. 8 The first, in part covered by
another picture, represents the saint upright, cowled, with a cross
in his right and a book in his left hand ; and is inscribed " MABGABIT.
DE ABITIO ME FEC." The second, painted with a hard enamelled
surface, is signed " MABGABIT DE ABETIO M. F.," and is excessively
ugly, short in stature, and gazing. The last, equally repulsive,
bears the mutilated inscription : " . . . DE . . . o ME FECIT." 9
That a good painter may also be a good architect and a talented
sculptor is so fully exemplified in the history of Italian art that
it creates no surprise ; but that a bad painter should become a
1 This picture on panel covered with a primed canvas, fast to the gesso,
is in part restored and bears the inscription "... RGAEIT DE ARETIO
PINOEBAT," the latter word retouched.
2 [In the Cappella Bardi.]
3 This picture is assigned to Cimabue by VASABI, vol. i., p. 221.
4 See TOLOMEI, Quida di Pistoia, vbi sup., p. 130. The original of
Memmi has perhaps existed and been replaced by this which falsely bears
his name.
6 This also is assigned by VASABI, vol. i,, p. 222, to Cimabue. According
to Tronci MSS. in Archiv. Star., vol. vi., p. 406, there were two pictures by
Margaritone in the church of S. Catherine of Pisa, one representing S. Francis,
the other S. Catherine.
8 Annat. to VASABI, vol. i., p. 304.
7 No. 18. 8 Case No. 18.
a The commentators of VASABI, vol. i., p. 304, notice a fourth as recently
exported from Florence, a fifth mentioned by Vasari as still existing at
Ganghereto sopra Terranuova di Valdarno. Ibid., p. 305.
MARGARITONE 157
good architect and sculptor passes all belief. Yet Vasari vouches
for the fact, and says that Margaritone executed the model of the
Palazzo and of S. Ciriaco, at Ancona, 1 and the toinb of Gregory X.
in the episcopal palace of Arezzo. The palace of Ancona has
undergone a total change since the sixteenth century, 2 and the
church of S. Ciriaco dates from the tenth century, but the portal
of the latter edifice is filled with heads of apostles which display
the rudeness peculiar to the thirteenth, albeit nothing characteristic
of Margaritone. The monument of Gregory X. in the cathedral,
and not in the episcopal palace at Arezzo displays the style of
the pupils of Niccola Pisano. The body of the pontiff lies on a
slab under the trefoil arch, at the point of which the Saviour in
the act of benediction is represented in a medallion. The statue
of Gregory is naturally and broadly treated, whilst in three
statuettes at the pinnacle fair action is coupled with shortness of
stature, a characteristic feature in the works of Arnolfo and other
Pisan sculptors. 3 Is it necessary to add that there is no resemblance
between this monument and the sculpture of the portal of S. Ciriaco
of Ancona ?
Vasari, however, notices in the life of Arnolfo, one Marehionne,
who, after executing works at Rome and elsewhere, produced
certain sculptured figures on the front of the cathedral of Arezzo, 4
which by their rude execution rival the paintings of Margaritone.
The biographer may have confounded two names which are not
unlike each other in sound ; but his mistake is more difficult to
pardon if one considers that the painter Margaritone and the
sculptor Marehionne could not have existed at the same period.
Whilst Margaritone and Marehionne thus stamp the art of
Arezzo as inferior even to that of the cities in its vicinity, another
painter did honour to the birthplace of Vasari, and this is
Montano.
A glance at the history of these days may reveal the influence
which the house of Naples wielded in Italy at the close of the
thirteenth and rise of the fourteenth centuries, during the struggles
1 VASARI, vol. i., pp. 307-8.
2 Annot. to VASARI, vol. i., p. 308.
3 A modern inscription at the base of the monument declares, does not ,
prove, that it was executed by Margaritone.
4 The inscription on the front of the cathedral of Arezzo, which can
only refer to the sculpture, as the greater part of the front and Church are
of 1300, runs as follows: "ANNI D. MCCXVL MS MADH. MARCHIO SCTTLPSIT
PBRMATHTJS MUNEBA FUisiT n?PE ARCHiPBi z." Vasari also gave to Mar-
chionne the tomb of Honorius III. in S. Maria Maggiore at Borne, which
in his second edition he assigns to Arnolfo. VASARI, vol. i., p. 244.
158 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Charles I. and II., and Robert
the Wise played a conspicuous part in the politics of Florence,
Niccola, Arnolfo, and Giovanni had, it is said, been employed in
the latter part of the thirteenth century in the construction or
enlargement of the castles which overawed Naples, or made the
city a strong place of arms. Churches had been built and endowed ;
and, according to the custom of the time, painting was required to
complete the adornment of the latter as well as that of the royal
chapels within the fortresses. Numerous as were the mosaists
and sculptors of South Italy in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,
painting seemed to have been less successfully pursued, and though
Dominici records the names of artists of most fabulous antiquity,
his statements are doubtful and seldom trustworthy. Oue might
indeed repeat respecting him the opinion of a late lamented author,
who affirmed that Dominici's book was hardly less fabulous than
the Metamorphoses of Ovid. The oldest painting in Naples which
has really the character of the close of the thirteenth century is
a fresco in the cortile of the monastery of S. Lorenzo Maggiore,
above the door leading into the church.
The Virgin, a slender and small-eyed figure, holding the infant
Saviour on her knees, plays with one of His hands, whilst He, with
not ungraceful motion, grasps a flower. The fingers of the hands are
thin, but coarse at the extremities. A small figure at the Virgin's
feet kneels in prayer, whose shield hangs to the right. 1
This work would dinicate that painting at Naples had sunk
to the general level of the thirteenth century all over Italy. Mon-
tano d'Arezzo had more talent probably ; and the works which
he undertook were vast and important. He painted in 1305 in
two chapels of the Castel Nuovo, 2 and in 1306 in two chapels of
the Castel del Uovo. 3 He had been the favourite of Philip of
Tarento, and on the death of that prince became the " familiar "
of King Robert, who (1310) knighted him and endowed his title
1 On gold ground.
2 In the Register No. 1305, letter G, folio 226, verso, of the Koyal
Sicilian Archives, is the following: " Magistro Mon.torio (? Montano) pictori
pro pictura duarum capeUarum Castri nostri Novi Neapolis et aliis nccessariis
ad pingendum capellas easdem, unciarum V. Datum Neapoli die 20 Augusti.
Indict. III. an. 1305." In Letter e sutta Chiesa deW Incoronata, etc., by
GIUSEPPE ANGELTJZZI (8vo, Naples, 1846), p. 12.
3 In the same records, Register fol. 228 : " Magistro Montano pictori
pro pictura dwarum capeUarum Castri nostri Ovi unciarum VIII. Sub die
ultimo Aitgwti. Indict. III., cm. 1306." Ibid., p. 14.
MONTANO D'AREZZO 159
with lands near Marigliano. 1 A chapel in the monastery of Monte-
vergine near AveUino, for which King Robert had a special
reverence, was adorned by his hands, and he is, by tradition, the
author of a Madonna at that honoured shrine. The head of the
image is said to have been brought home from the Crusades ; but
this is a fable sedulously maintained with the aid of a fictitious
reading of old records and by a diligent concealment of all but
the features under an ornament and diadem of jewelled silver.
Nor would it have been easy to form an idea as to the value of a
picture exhibited at a shrine of such celebrity but for the circum
stance that, not long since, the whole figure was laid bare for the
sake of being copied, and it became possible to remark, first, that
the whole altarpiece is the work of one hand, and secondly, that
it corresponds in style to that of a painter living in the first years
of the thirteenth century.
The Virgin, of large size, enthroned in a chair, holds on her knee
the Infant, who grasps the dress at her bosom and is clothed in a red
timic shot with gold. With her left hand she firmly supports Him,
whilst with her right she seems to draw attention from herself to Him,
an action, common to the early schools. Two small angels wave censers
at the upper angles of the chair, at the foot of which are six of the
1 In the same records Regist. Let. E, F 27 a tergo an. 1310 : " Robertus
rex universis presentes litteras ispecturis, tarn presentibus quam futuris.
Induct! nos instituia naturalibus et ratio ut cum . . . affectibus in hiis
maxime per quse et sequentibus merita digna pervenit, et opera munificentiae
per quoddam honestatis debitum, nee incfigno ciarescunt sane Montanus de
Aretio pictor et familiaris carissimi fratris nostri Filippi principis Acahie et
Taranti fidelissimus in presentia nost. Majestatis - . . quod idem princeps,
de Grata servitia qusa idem Montanus sibi hactenus prestatum est prsestabat
suse dirigens considerationis intuitum specialem sibi fecit gratiam et cessit
qua proinde litteras suo pendenti sigillo munitas quas nostro cospetui pre-
sentavit tenoris, &c. Philippus clare memorie . . . servitiis quse Magister
Montanus de Aretio pictor familiaris noster nobis exhibuit et exhibere non
cessat maxime in pingendo capellam nostram tarn in domo nostro Neapolis
quam in Ecc. B. Marias de Monte Virginis, ubi specialem devotionem habemus
eidein Magistro Montano et ejus eredibus utnusque sexus et ejus tempore
legitime descendentibus natis, jam et in antea najscituris in perpetuum de
a R. terra olim nemoris seu silva Larje quse est in terra nostra comitatus
acerrarum, sita inter Marilianum et Summam, quam Silvam in toto trahi
et extirpari," &c. Ibid., p. 15.
The manner in which the foregoing has been altered for an evident
purpose may be seen in the following extract from Priv&egi Incepti e
BironaU (foL, Naples, vol. ii.):
" 1310. Privilegio del Re Roberto con cui dona a Montanara d'Arezzo,
pittore, una stanza di Maggia 100, site tra la Cerra e Marigliano per aver
dipinto il busto del Quadro di nos. Sign, de Montevergine e la cappella del
D. Re in Napoli."
There is not a word of the Virgin of Monte Vergine in the record, still
less of her " bust."
160 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
heavenly messengers. The form of the Infant, small for that of the
Virgin, the diminutive size of the angels, impair the balance of the
group. The Madonna is of a slender and not quite ungraceful shape.
The head is of a regular outline, but, like that of the Infant and angels,
reveals in the painter a lingering attachment to old forms, and a
mixture of the manner still visible in Cimabue with that of the Giot-
tcsques. The hands are long, and the fingers slender but coarse at
the extremities. The draperies, with gilt embroidered borders, fall
with a comparatively easy fold, and are all shot with gold. It is a
work which may be classed betwixt those of Siena and Florence,
graceful enough to remind one of the former, without the breadth
peculiar to the latter, but not so talented as to explain the high position
of Montano at the Neapolitan court at a time when Giotto was already
famous. It must, however, be borne in mind that the whole picture
has been rubbed down, so that in the heads of some angels the original
drawing may be seen. The gold ground is gone, and the colour, now
hard and raw, seems to have been thinly painted on a slightly primed
panel. The shadows are still, however, warm in tone.
The fabulous history of the head being a relic of the Crusades
arose from a very natural desire to increase the reverence due to
the shrine, but seemed confirmed by the fact that this part of
the panel, being formed of a separate block, projects with its
nimbus at an angle to the plane of the picture, a practice common
to all the schools of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries.
But besides the evident presence of the same hand in every
part of the work, the projection is of the same wood as the rest
of the panel The record of Montano's knighthood in no wise
supports the fable of a relic brought home from Constantinople,
but merely states that the painter laboured at Montevergine in
1310. The picture seems to have been executed at that period,
and may therefore be assigned to Montano, the more, as there are
vestiges of painting of the same kind in one of the chapels of the
church.
In Naples, little remains that recalls the style of a painter
whose industry was so great, except a half figure of a bishop in.
episcopate, in the act of benediction and aged about threescore,
in the dormitory dei Giovanetti of the Seminario Urbano.
This figure is not without grandeur, and seems to be one of a series
of three, the remainder of which have perished. Above the figure
of the Bishop stands S. Paul with the sword and book, of good features
and character, more modern in style than Cimabue, and somewhat
Giottesque in type. The contours are a little black, the colour rubbed
down. Montano may possibly be the author.
CHAPTER VI
RISE OF ART AT FLORENCE
THE rise of the Florentine school may be said to date from the
period when Jacopo the Franciscan adorned the tribune of the
Baptistery of S. Giovanni with mosaics ; but there are written
records of old date to prove the existence of art at Florence as
early as the eleventh century. One Rustico, " clerk and painter,"
lived there in 1066. The memory of one Girolamo di Morello,
also a "clerk and painter" in 1112, is preserved in a document
of the time; and these names not "only prove the existence of
artists, but that they were chiefly of the religious orders. In 1191
Marchisello of Florence painted a picture which still existed at
the time of Cosimo de* Medici on the high altar of the church of
S, Tommaso. In 1224, the prior of S. Maria Maggiore of Florence
was indebted to one " Magister Fidanza dipintor," 1 and sold a
house to satisfy his creditor. In 1236, Bartolommeo, a painter,
lived at Florence. 2 One Lapo di Florentia painted on the front
of the cathedral of Pistoia in 1259 ; 3 and as early as 1269, one of
the streets of Florence already bore the name of Via de' PittorL 4
The earliest artist mentioned by Vasari, is Andrea Tafi, who,
according to a doubtful chronology, was born in 1213. 5 Tafi,
" being not the most talented man in the world, and considering
that mosaic, because of its durable qualities, was in greater estima
tion than any other kind of painting, proceeded from Florence to
Venice, where certain Greeks were working in that material. Having
become their companion, he succeeded, by means of money and
prayers, in bringing a Greek painter named Apollonius to Florence,
who taught him the art of baking mosaic cubes and of making the
1 RXTMOHB, Jforschungen, gives the original record, vol. ii., pp. 28 r 191.
2 GAYE (Qarteffgio, vol. i., p. 423, 8vo, Flor., 1839) quotes from a record
of Aug. 1292 at Florence, one Fino, "pietor," who executed work in the
" palatium eomune." /*
3 CIAMPI, ubi sup., Doc. xxl, p. 142. The subjects were the Virgin and
Child between two saints, half figures.
4 See also for these early artists, commentary on the life of Cimabue
in VASARI, vol. i., pp. 233-4.
6 VASARI, vol. i., p. 285.
I. 161 L
162 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
putty for joining them." l Without denying that Tafi visited
Venice, or that Apollonius 2 abandoned the works of S. Mark for
those of S. Giovanni, it may be observed that the art of mosaics
required no new rules in the thirteenth century, and that, even at
Florence, Fra Jacopo perfectly succeeded without the aid of Greeks
in producing (1225) the mosaics of the tribune in the very edifice
which Tafi afterwards helped to complete. This obvious fact
apparently puzzled Baldinucci, who cleared the difficulty by
making Fra Jacopo a pupil of Tafi, 3 mindless of the fact that the
latter being, according to Vasari, born in 1213, and in reality perhaps
later, he could not have taught a mosaist who laboured in 1225.
Andrea Tafi indeed was more probably a pupil of the Franciscan,
as is very truly observed by the commentators of the Aretine,
who quote, much to the point, a passage 4 in which Tafi and
Gaddo Gaddi are made to assist Fra Jueopo, and this at a time
when Tafi had become " famous throughout Italy." 5
The Baptistery of Florence was, according to Vasari, executed
jointly by Tafi and Apollonius, 6 one figure alone being due to the
undivided industry of the former.
In the converging sides of the cupola, the Saviour erect, in the
act of benediction and holding the book, is surrounded by thrones,
virtues, the emblems of rule, angels, archangels, powers, and domina
tions. Beneath the Saviour in glory, and above the entrance to the
tribune, a colossal Redeemer sits on a rainbow in Judgment ; at His
feet the Resurrection of the Dead, and in three courses at His sides,
the Angels sounding the Last Trump, the Apostles, Paradise, and
Hell. These three courses, continued round the octagon, are filled,
in the upper, with scenes of the Creation from the Separation of Light
and Darkness to the Deluge, the second with incidents from the life
of Joseph and his brothers, and the third with episodes from the history
of the Saviour. The fourth and lowest row is devoted to the mission
of John the Baptist.
All this is not the produce of one, or even of two hands, but
of many. The distribution and general arrangement may be of
1 VASARI, vol. i., p. 281.
2 The existence of Apollonius is doubtful. Del Migliore, MS. notes to
Vasari in the Magliabecehiana (com. to VASARI, vol. i., p. 288), protends
that he read in a record of 1279 " MAGISTEB APOLLONIUS PICTOR FLORENTINE."
BICHA, Chiese Florentine, vol. v., p. xlii., says he saw the name of Apollonio
in the records of the Baptistery j but the records themselves are not to be
found.
* BALDINTTOGI (F.), Opere (8vo, Milan, 1811), vol. iv., p. 93.
* VASARI, vol. i, p. 2S5. 5 VASARI, vol. i., p. 284.
* VASARI, vol. i., p. 282.
ANDREA TAFI 163
the thirteenth century, but it is very doubtful whether the whole
was at once completed. The mosaic, imposing by its symmetry
and the due subordination of the architectural and pictorial parts,
reveals various periods of labour and restoration, and a consequent
loss of original character. Amongst the least defective, and
probably earliest, parts are those immediately to the right of the
Redeemer in Judgment, and especially one in which a half figure
of the Eternal, standing with raised arms and creating the sun
and the moon, is distinguished by regularity of proportions. Yet
in the sequel of this series different periods may be noticed. The
first mentioned, however, make a nearer approach to the tribune
mosaics than the rest, and the latter, whatever Vasari may have
thought or pretended, are superior to those of the octagon. 1 The
course devoted to the life of the Saviour displays a more modern
style, the legs of the Crucified Saviour being nailed over each other,
contrary to the practice of the thirteenth century. The most
feeble and defective figure in the Baptistery is the much damaged
and restored one of the colossal Redeemer in Judgment, specially
assigned to Tafi, which is remarkable for the size and grimness of
the head, the deformity of the extremities, and the overcharge of
gold in the confused draperies. Akin to this figure in its faults,
the angels and apostles of the Judgment betray, in their vehement
and ill-rendered action, the general character of the works of
the thirteenth century, and seem but a continuation of the style
of S. Angelo in Formis near Capua. That Tafi should have much
credit for this colossal figure is surprising and probably untrue.
In the Inferno, the figure of Lucifer, sitting upon dead bodies,
with serpents hissing from his ears, was conceived much in the
spirit which prevailed later in Giottesque pictures, and may
possibly be a restoration by one of the Gaddi.
If Tafi is one of the feeble artists of the last period of the decline,
and does not charm by any species of talent, he may still amuse
us by his timidity and superstition, which Franco Sacchetti 2 has
ridiculed with as much gusto as Vasari rallies his grotesque style.
That style the Aretine affected to consider purely Greek, starting
from the wilfully erroneous opinion that everything feeble in art
1 See Vasari' s depredatory remarks on all these mosaics, but especially
on those of Fra Jacopo, vol. i., p. 284.
2 FHAKCO SACCHETTI, Novel 191, Edit, of Gaetano Pogliani (8vo, Milan,
1804), vol. iii., p. 136. Sacchetti, according to Bottari's preface to the
above edition, p. xxii, was born about 1335, a year before the death of Giotto,
and completed his NoveUe about the year 1376.
164 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
in Italy should be attributed to foreigners. He might have been
nearer the truth had he affirmed that Tafl combined the defects
common to Italians and Byzantines at this period ; for there
was a feeble Greek art, but by its side a feeble Italian style ; and
both were so degenerate as to be hardly distinguishable. Tan
being no more Greek than Italian in manner, might have learnt
quite as much from masters of one as of the other nationality.
Of TafTs supposed works in Pisa no record has been preserved.
He died, according to his biographer, in 1294. 1 It might have been
interesting to compare with his mosaic at the Baptistery those of
S. Miniato, outside Florence, executed, as is proved by an inscrip
tion, in 1297. Those of the front, as well as those of the choir,
were in existence in the time of Rumohr, who describes the first
as of the eleventh century, and without a trace of Byzantine char
acter, the second as in Greek taste. 2 At the present time the
mosaics of the front, which had almost been obliterated, have been
renewed, whilst those of the choir have undergone the worst sort
of repair. 3
Vasari notices as a curious circumstance that, when Alessio
Baldovinetti, and after him Lippo, restored, the mosaics of the
Baptistery, it might be seen that the design was previously drawn
and coloured in red on the stucco. 4 This was a common custom,
and may be noticed at Cefalu. All artists used the same method,
whether for mosaic or for fresco, and it may be seen in the cathedral
of Assisi and, as late as the fifteenth century, in the frescoes of
Benozzo Gozzoli at the Campo Santo of Pisa. In mosaics, the
cubes were simply laid according to the design on the stucco,
1 VASABI, vol. i., pp. 285-6. Of his pupil Antonio di Andrea Tafi. nothing
further is known than that he is inscribed in 1348 in the Company of S. Luke
at Florence. GAYE, Carteggio, vol. ii., p. 37. Of Bonamico or Buffalmacco,
a word later.
2 RUMOKB, Forschungen, vol. i., pp. 354-5.
3 This mosaic represents the Saviour between the symbols of the
Evangelists, with the Virgin erect and stretching out her arms on the left,
and S. Miniato presenting a crown on the right. Ornaments with medallions
of apostles, animals, and birds, form the border. The mosaic has the. muti
lated inscription : "AP o D#I Mccxcvn. TJBCP GE p. P . , . STO OPUS." This
mosaic has been restored on the system pursued in S. Mark at Venice, namely
removed and re-executed after tracings had been taken of the remains.
It is needless to say that the character of the original has been lost in the
copies. It is surprising that an art commission like that of Florence sho\ild
in the year 1861 countenance such practices, particularly when elsewhere
the palace of the Podesta has been so ably restored, and when at Pisa, the
conscientious and able Pietro Bellini has restored the cathedral, super
intended the works of the Baptistery and Campo Santo, and renewed, exactly
in its original style, S. Paolo a Ripa d'Arno.
* VASABI, vol. i., p, 283.
ANDREA TAFI 165
In drawing for wall painting, the artist first transferred, either to
the raw surface of the wall, when the work was to be on one
intonaco, or to the first intonaco, when two were used, the original
design. This was done by means of comparative squares, by
which a small original drawing in the painter's hand was transferred
in larger proportions to the space intended for it. After this
transfer, the necessary improvements having been made on the
wall, were transposed as corrections to the original small drawing.
The final intonaco was then laid on in portions, and retraced with
the assistance of the squares on the still uncovered parts and on
the corrected design. The use of a single intonaco lasted to the
close of the thirteenth century. Two were introduced at the time
of Giotto, and continued by his successors ; and it was not till
the fifteenth century that cartoons were pricked and pounced.
Contemporary with Tafi was Coppo di Marcovaldo, 1 a Florentine
painter, who possessed no qualities superior to those of his pre
decessors. In a picture of the convent church of the Servi at
Siena, assigned to Dietisalvi, he displayed no better acquirements
than his neighbours. 2 The subject of the Virgin enthroned in a
vast chair, and holding the infant Saviour, with two angels at
the upper angles, is rendered in the old manner ; and in the com
position, attitude, and features, as well as in the draperies and
ornaments, Coppo continued the defective manner of the period
differing perhaps from the Sienese in this, that his forms had some
thing of the Florentine weight. As a colourist he cannot be
criticised, because the surface of his picture has been rubbed down,
darkened by age and restoring ; but, if one can judge from the
remains, his tones were mapped out in sharp contrasts on a rough
surface of gesso. The date of this work, if credit can be given to
records, was 1261. There are further notices of Coppo as having
1 [Coppo di Marcovaldo was perhaps the most noteworthy among these
early Florentines. He was born at Florence early in the thirteenth century.
PBOF. BACCI has written of him (Coppo di Marcovaldo e Salerno di Coppo)
in PArtey vol. iii., p. 32 et seq. His finest work is in the Chiesa de* Servi
in Siena a Madonna and Child, which is like a forerunner of the RuceUai
Madonna. A Crucifix which is still in Pistoia seems to have been the joint
work of him and his son Salerno. He fought at Montaperti, and was taken
prisoner, as his Madonna in Siena seems to assure us. Of. VENT OKI, op. dt. 9
vol. v., pp. 52-54.]
2 This picture has been engraved by Rosini as a work of Dietisalvi of
Siena, Atlas, tab. vi. But Padre Filippo Buondelmonte, in his chronicles
of the convent church of the Servi, says that the picture was by Coppo di
Marcovaldo, whilst, in a MS. description of Siena, by a doubtful author,
but of the seventeenth century, it is stated to have been signed and dated :
"M.CCLXI COPPUS DI IXOBENTIA PINXTT." See comment, to VASAEI, vol. i
p. 235.
166 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
executed wall paintings in 1265 at the Cappella S. Jacopo of the
Duomo in Pistoia, and a Virgin, in 1275, in the choir of the same
edifice. 1
Such was the state of art in Florence when, according to Vasari,
the governors of the city thought fit to invite Greek painters to
restore that which he declares to have been totally lost in Italy. 2
Without wasting further time or space to refute an assertion
which is confirmed neither by facts nor by record, and remembering
that, not only in Florence but throughout Italy, painting was
indeed reduced to a low ebb, but, so far from being lost, was in
the full possession of life, it is a sensible relief to the student to
mark the gradual revival which took place under Giovanni Cimabue,
who, born in 1240 of the respectable family of the Cimabui, 3 was
led by a natural inclination to the study of design, and, in the
course of time, infused life into the old school from which he
sprung. Cimabue was destined to stand out in history as the
forerunner of a new era. He was to reanimate old and worn-out
types, to infuse energy and individuality into empty forms, to
soften the harshness of a degenerate school, and to shed over a
barbarous time the poetry of sentiment and of colour. Surrounded
by examples which are the evident groundwork of his style, for
he did not issue beyond a certain measure from the rudeness of
his age, he had no need of the Greek masters who are supposed
to have taught him. It would seem indeed as if Vasari, anxious
to carry out in literature that law of contrasts which is so essential
to the painter, should have thought it necessary to place his hero
under the most despicable of tutors, that his superiority might
shine out the more splendidly afterwards. In pursuit of this
system, he chose for the teachers of Cimabue certain Greeks who,
he affirms, in pursuance of the imaginary invitation of the
Florentine government, painted the chapel of the Gondi in S. Maria
Novella. 4 Unfortunately for his theory, it is proved that Santa
Maria Novella was only commenced forty years after Cimabue's
birth. 5 Succeeding authors, desirous to support the falling edifice
1 See CIAMPI, pp. 86 and 143. TIGBI, Guida di Pistoia, pp. 122, 138.
TOIX>MEI, p. 16. Ciampi mentions (p. 86) a Crucifix by Coppo in the
cathedral of Pistoia, dated 1275. The frescoes of the Cappella S. Jacopo
were removed to make room for others by Alesso d* Andrea and Bonaccorso
di Ono, in 1347.
2 VASABI, vol. L, p. 219. 3 VASARI, vol. i. 5 p. 219.
* VASABI, vol. I? p. 220.
5 [The foundation-stone of the new church of S. Maria was laid by
Cardinal Latino in 1279 ; but before that there had existed the smaller
CIMABUE 167
of Vasarfs history and chronology, supposed that the paintings
of the so-called Greeks were rude ones executed in the chapels of
S. Anna and S. Antonio, in the old church beneath the sacristy
of S. Maria Novella. These, representing the Birth of the
Virgin, and scenes from her life, were engraved by Agincourt in
ignorance of the fact that they were of the fourteenth century.
Delia Valle and Lanzi, 1 in the same path, fell back at last upon
some older paintings discovered beneath the foregoing, which they
assigned to the Greeks of Vasari, but which merely exhibited the
rude hand of one amongst the feeble artists common to Italy hi
the thirteenth century.
It is sufficient to know that, whatever Vasari may have
thought and written respecting the early education of Cimabue,
he was right in affirming that the Florentine was the best painter
of his time, and that he was the regenerator of the art of his country.
Whether, in Cimabue, the struggle towards a truer expression of
nature was a consequence of the general tendency in the age to
emerge from barbarism, abate corruption, and acquire liberty;
or whether some special cause might have led him to feel the
abject condition of an art which had merely consisted at last in
the perpetuation of defective models consecrated by time and
custom, is a question which the silence of history does not give
authority to answer. It may be presumed, however, that with
the new spirit which arose in religion, politics, and letters, the
progress of art must needs go hand in hand. That Cimabue was
not merely sensible of the necessity for a change, but proud of
having given the first impulse towards it, may be learnt from the
pages of one who lived and wrote but thirty years after his death. 2
Nay, it is even said that he was vain of the progress which he had
caused, though, in the author of the Divina Commedia, he found
a more lenient judge, and a milder verdict than was accorded to
one who was not the teacher of Giotto. 3 Dante, indeed, contri-
buildinff which forms the present transepts. It is therefore not impossible
that for once Vasari is right. Of. WOOB BROWN, The Church of 8 Mana
Novella (1902). The Gondi chapel apparently formed a part of the older
building.]
1 LANZI, ubi sup. t vol. i., p. 41.
2 See the text of these comments in VASABI, vol. i., p. 227. fhe -author
was the first illustrator of the Divina Commedia, and is usually called the
Anonimo.
3 Oderisio da Gubbio. See in the Purgatorio the well-known passage :
Credette Cimabue nella pintura
Tener lo campo ; ed ora ha Giotto il grido,
Si che la fama di colui oscura,
Canto XL, v. 94,
168 HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
buted to the fame of Cimabue, who shared with Giotto the halo
thrown around the Florentine master by a poet, honoured, hated,
and afterwards deified by his countrymen. Cimabue's pictures,
known by tradition less than by record, were admired by his
contemporaries, and, when he had finished the colossal Madonna
of the Rucellai for S. Maria Novella, 1 it was carried in a festive
1 [Filippo Villani speaks of Cimabue, but mentions no pictures. Landino
does the same. F. Alberti (1510) speaks of several. Billi and the Anonimo
give more than a few. Vasari gives him everything in the Byzantine manner.
From the point of view of the " scientific critic " there might seem to be
nothing affirmative to say about Cimabue, since no picture at present known
to us can be proved to have come from his hand. RICHTER (Lectures on
the National Gallery, London, 1898), finds himself in agreement with Wickoff
and Langton Douglas in asserting that nothing we at present possess can
with any certainty be given to him. The Rucellai Madonna, that has for
so long represented Cimabue to most of us, must reluctantly be given up,
though not necessarily to Duccio, as LANGTON DOUGLAS so ably argues (see
Cimabue in Nineteenth Century, March 1903, and Duccio in Monthly Review,
August, 1903), but at any rate to a Sienese painter. WOOD BROWN (The
Church of S. Maria NoveUa, Edinburgh, 1902) is of the same opinion as
Langton Douglas, who goes so far as to assert that Cimabue is not the
author of any of the paintings attributed to him. Berenson seems to think
that the fame of Cimabue, and to some extent of Giotto also, is due to the
commentators of Dante. Cf. B. BERENSON, The Study and Criticism of
Italian Art (Bell, 1901), vol. i., p. 446.
A very good defence of Cimabue has been made by ROGER FRY in his
article on Giotto in the Monthly Review for December, 1900, and by ALES-
SANDRO CHIAPPELLI, Pagine tfAntica Arte Fiorentina (Firenze. 1905). They
insist that the Rucellai Madonna is Cimabue's. I find myself, however, in
agreement with SUTDA (in Jahrbuch der K. Preuss Kunstsammlungen, 1905),
who is of opinion that the Rucellai Madonna is neither by Cimabue nor
by Duccio, but by a third, a Sienese artist. VENTURI (op. cit., vol. v.,
pp. 63-80) discusses the whole subject with acuteness and a measure of
impartiality. If, however, we are to give up the Rucellai Madonna, it does
not seem necessary to deny that certain works may well be from Cimabue's
hand, though it may be impossible to prove that they are his. Such works
are the Madonna of the Louvre, which has been given to the school of
Duccio, the Madonna of the Accademia of Florence, and the fresco of
Madonna between four angels with S. Francis in the Lower Church of S.
Francesco at Assisi. But the whole question scarcely concerns the sosthetic
critic, for whom all art seems more and more alone to exist. He will not
care overmuch what names are given to the pictures which for him are real
and living things. What will move him, however, is the fact that such
discussions as these of the "scientific critics" do not destroy names merely,
but beauty also, by reason of the credulity and superstition of fools. There
was, not long ago, in Florence, among many beautiful things, one that was
full of mystery. We approached it with a certain awe, timidly to gaze
as it were" on the shrine of a goddess. Need I say that I am speaking of
the Rucellai chapel in S. Maria Novella, which held the picture concerning
which there has been all this foolish and egotistical vapouring ? Well, the
Florentines began at last to take notice. The Germans had written books,
more than one English critic sallied forth to this battle of windmills. The
Florentine was amazed. " What ! " said he, * c they come to see that old
picture ? Monna Mia, but they can't see it ! " So they cleaned out the
Rucellai chapel, they put white glass in the windows, they took away the
altar ; they pulled down the picture, and took it out of its frame. Then,
CIMABUE 169
procession of people and trumpeters, the fame of its beauty having
been spread through the city by a visit from Charles I. of Anjou,
in the company of a numerous suite of high-born dames and
gentlemen, to the painter's atelier. 1
In this altarpiece, the largest that had yet been seen, the spectators
might notice the Virgin, whom they held in so much veneration, in a
red tunic and blue mantle, with her feet resting on an open worked
stool, sitting on a chair hung with a white drapery flowered in gold
and blue, and carried by six angels kneeling in threes above each
other. A delicately engraved nimbus surrounded her head and that
of the infant Saviour on her lap, dressed in a white tunic and purple
mantle shot with gold. A dark coloured frame surrounded the gabled
square of the picture, which was delicately traced with an ornament,
interrupted at intervals by no less than thirty medallions on gold
ground, each of which contained the half figure of a saint. In the
face of the Madonna, the admiring beholder might praise the soft and
melancholy expression ; in the form of the Infant, a certain freshness,
animation, and natural proportion ; in the group, affection but too
rare at this period. He might sympathise with the sentiment in the
attitudes of the angels, in the movement of the heads, and in the
elegance with which the hair was wound round the cinctures, falling
in locks on the neck. He would be justly struck by the energetic mien
of some prophets ; above all, he would have felt surprise at the
comparative clearness and soft harmony of the colours. The less
enthusiastic spectator of the present day will admit, but qualify this
praise. In truth, a certain loss of balance is caused by the overweight
of the head in the Virgin as compared with the slightness of the frame.
The features are the old ones of the thirteenth century, only softened,
as regards the expression of the eye, by an exaggeration of elliptical
form in the iris, and closeness of the curves of the Eds. The nose
still starts from a protuberant root, is still depressed at the end ; and
the mouth and cMn are still small and prim. In the Saviour, the
in a bare, cold, and very ugly room that had once been a chapel where men
prayed, but is now a mere sola, as it were, of a gallery, and wretched at that,
thoy hung Madonna, without any frame at all or any altar, on the bare wall
in the hard, white light ; so that the Germans could count her toes and the
Americans measure her nose, and the English say : " After all, who knows ?
she is bad enough, and ugly enough to have been painted by some
Florentine."]
1 It has been inferred from the silence of such historians as Malespmi
and Villani as to this visit, which is only recorded in VASARI (vol. i., p. 225),
that its truth may be contested. There is, however, nothing improbable in
it. The further statement that the quarter in which Cimabue lived, " Borgo
Allegri," derived its name from the public joy on the occasion, is proved
to be untrue. See notes of commentators to VASABI, vol. L, pp. 225-6.
[This story occurs first in the bibro di Antonio BiUi, written at the end of the
fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century. It is a work of brief
notes, as it were a sort of forerunner of the Vite of VASABI. See II Libro
di Antonio Bitti (Berlin, Grote'sche Verlag., 1892}.]
170 HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
same coarse nose will be found united to a half-open niouth and large
round eyes ; and the features will be considered less infantine than
masculine and square. The hands of both Virgin and Child will
attract attention by the thinness and length of the fingers, their wide
separation, as they start from the palm, and by joints which have
something of the lay figure, whilst the feet are similarly defective.
In the angels, the absence of all true notions of composition may be
considered striking. Their frames will appear slight for the heads,
yet their movements more natural and pleasing than hitherto. One,
indeed, to the spectator's right of the Virgin, combines more tender
reverence in its glance than any that had yet been produced. In the
flow of his drapery, Cimabue made no sensible progress ; but he might
be justly proud of the change which he introduced into the methods of
drawing and colouring practised in his time. After somewhat softening
the hardness of the fine engraved outlines, he gave to the flesh tints a
clear and carefully fused colour, and imparted to the forms some of
the rotundity which they had lost. With him vanished the sharp
contrasts of hard lights, half tones, and shades. He abandoned the
line shadowing, ignoring form, for a careful stippling which followed
and developed it. He relieved the general light verde underground
with warm shadows and pale, but warm, lights. A ruddy tinge lighted,
without staining, the cheeks and lips. Unity and harmony were given
to the whole by a system of final glazes, which, having now in part
disappeared, exaggerate the paleness of the flesh lights. His draperies
were painted in gay and transparent colours ; reds, gently harmonising,
by their lightness, with the flesh and with the light, but brilliant, blues
and rosy pinks. In ornament, he followed the practice of his pre
decessors, but infused into it more taste and a better subordination
to the remaining parts. 1
From the date of this altarpiece the pre-eminence of the
Florentine school begins to develop itself, expands later in the
person of Giotto, to reunite in Ghirlandaio all the branches of
its progress, and finally to culminate in the greatness of Michael
Angelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. The altarpiece of
S. Maria Novella would alone suffice to explain the superiority
of Cimabue over his predecessors and contemporaries, the rise
of Giotto and the principles on which he started. Without it the
principal link of artistic history at Florence would l?e lost and
Giotto's greatness unexplained, 2 because neither the Madonna
* Time has unfortunately not spared portions of the picture; which,
besides being longitudinally split in three places, is damaged as regards
several of the saints in the border medallions.
2 [As we shall presently see, Giotto owed much to other masters, to the
work of Pietro Cavallini, to the work of Giovanni Pisano. Yet that Cimabue
was Giotto's master, that he was a great painter, and not almost a myth as
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CIMABUE 171
of the Academy of Arts at Florence nor that of the Louvre give a
just idea of the master. The altarpiece of the Academy of Arts
may, it is true, rank higher than that of the Eucellai as regards
composition and the study of nature ; but the old types are more
obstinately maintained there ; and, above all, the colour has
been so altered by time and restoring that the excellent qualities
of Cimabue in this respect can hardly be traced any longer. 1
Cimabue here gave the Virgin a more natural attitude and a less
rotund head, but a weightier frame, stronger outlines, and a less
careful execution than before. He characterised with a wild
energy the two prophets in the centre niche, and gave them indi
viduality of features and expression. 2 In a Madonna of the same
form as those of S. Maria Novella and the Academy, now in the
Louvre, 3 the old ornamented frame with its twenty-six medallions
is reminiscent of the Virgin of the Rucellai chapel, and shares much
of its character, but seems less carefully executed, and has since lost
some of its value from necessary restoring, the glazes being removed,
and the green of the shadows as well as yellows of lights being
bared. The draperies, which were of old shot with gold, are now
repainted, the gold ground and nimbuses regilt, and many of the
modern criticism would have it, I must believe, with Crowe and Cavalcaselio,
unless the words of his great contemporary Dante Alighieri are also at the
behest of modern criticism to vanish away, as seems already to be threatened.
See LANGTON DOTTGI^AS and ARTHUR STRONG in a History of Painting in
Italy, by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. i., App. to Chap, vi., pp. 187-193.
Gliiberti, who, long after, calls Cimabue a painter in the Greek manner, tells
us of no other master of Giotto. He, too, seems to regard the revival as in
some sort due to Cimabue. Yet Ghiberti has been used with much effect
by those who have sought to destroy Cimabue altogether. But see F.
WICKOFF, Der Zeit des Ouido von Siena (MitOieilungen des Instittti fur oster-
reichische Geschichtes Forschung., Innsbruck, 1895).]
1 The Virgin, enthroned, with the Infant in the act of benediction on
her knee [Academy, Sala dei Maestri Toscani, No. 102], on a chair sup
ported by eight guardian angels ; the throne upon a floor resting on
niched supports in which the four prophets stand who foretold the
Saviour's coming ; such is again the simple subject of the altarpiece at the
Academy of Arts at Florence, whose gable form has been modernised into a
rectangular one.
2 In these indeed, as well as in the two occupying the side niches, and
looking up to the Madonna, he surpassed himself in the rendering of form,
giving to one animation, to others a staid gravity. In the drapery no
change is to be noticed. This Madonna was originally in the Badia of S.
Trinita at Florence. Another Madonna and Child enthroned with angels
adoring, lately in the Ugo Baldi Gallery and now in the National Gallery
[No. 565], partakes to a certain extent of the character noticed in Cimabue,
and is supposed to be that mentioned by VASARI as at S. Croce {VASARI,
vol. L, p. 221). Time, however, and retouching have done inueh to impair
its value. [This seems indeed to be of Buccio's school.]
3 [No. 1260 of Louvre Catal. This seems to be by the painter of tho
Academy Madonna.]
172 HISTOBY OF PAINTING IN ITALY
heads in the medallions renewed in oil. Originally in S. Francesco
of Pisa, the presence of this altarpiece there might be taken as
evidence of the painter's stay in that city, were it not already
certain that, in the last years of the century, he was appointed
capo-maestro of the mosaics in the Pisan Duomo. To Pisa there
fore, neglecting the series of works falsely assigned to the painter
by Vasari and others, 1 Cimabue may be followed with advantage.
1 Before proceeding to notice the works assigned to Cimabue, it may
be advisable to state that the following, mentioned by Vasari, have perished,
viz. The wall paintings in the hospital of the Porcellana (VASARI, p. 221) ;
S. Agnes, a panel with side pictures of the life of the Saint, of old in S. Paolo
a Bipa d'Arno at Pisa (ibid.., p. 223) ; wall paintings representing scenes
from the life of the Saviour in the chiostro di S. Spirito at Florence ; and
paintings sent by the master to Empoli (ibid., vol. i., p. 225). In the
Academy of Arts at Florence, a Virgin and Child (No. 46), from S. Paolino of
Florence, is assigned with a query to Cimabue, but is evidently not by him.
Vasari mentions as one of Cimabue's first works an altarpiece in S. Cecilia
at Florence (vol. i., p. 221). A picture in the Ufnzi formerly in S. Cecilia,
and later in S. Stefano, has been supposed that to which Vasari alludes. It
represents S. Cecilia enthroned with a book in her left hand and her right
raised. At the upper angles of the throne two angels wave censers. On
each side are four episodes of the life of the saint. This picture is executed
according to the methods, form, and proportions characteristic of the be
ginning of the fourteenth century, more in the Giottesque manner in fact ;
and this may be noticed specially in the principal figure. No one who has
seen the dead colour paintings in the Scrovegni chapel at Padua will hesitate
as to the school in which the painter was educated. A noble attitude, the
improved forms, broad draperies, and elegance of the school of Giotto,
exclude, as they were unknown to, Cimabue. The small incidents are very
animated, the figures long and with small heads. Some of the latter, it is
true, are marked with the old type ; and the action is at tunes exaggerated,
yet not in the manner of Cimabue. In a Baptism, administered by a bishop,
the same mode of composition may be observed as in a group of women
in wonder at the resurrection of a female, who revives to be confessed by
S. Francis, as in one of the series of frescoes of the life of that saint, in the
Upper Church of Assisi. Unfortunately this altarpiece at the Umzi creates
a disagreeable impression by its colour, which is damaged by time and re
storing. Vasari assigns to Cimabue the S. Francis of Santa Croce, which
has already found a place amongst the works of Margaritone ; and a Crucifix
in the same church, which, in technical execution, makes some approach
to the Florentine master, but is rather of his time than by the painter himself.
Kugler attributes to Cimabue a picture in a dark passage leading to the
sacristy of S. Simone at Florence. This represents S. Peter in the act of
benediction and holding a cross, enthroned, bareheaded, in pontificals, with
two angels at each side of him, and the inscription : " ISTAM TABULAM FECIT
FIERI SOdETAS BEATI PETRI APOSTOUC DE MENSE JUNH SUB ANNIS DOMINI
MCCCVU." The date alone excludes Cimabue. The heads of the angels are
repainted in oil. As for the remaining parts, the execution is rude, the
shadows dark, the outlines black, and the feet large and defective. Yet tHe
colossal figure of the saint is imposing in attitude.
Vasari finally attributes to Cimabue the S. Francis, of S. Francesco of
Pisa, which exists, and is, in style, worthy of Margaritone, to whom it will
be found assigned in the foregoing pages (VASARI, vol. i., p. 223).
In the late Campana Gallery at Rome was a picture of S, Christopher,
supposed to be the same which, according to Vasari, was painted by
Cimabue in his house in Borgo Allegri at Florence (VASARI, vol. i., 
