with his hand; a tale that may rank with the CHA P. horse of Apelles, the curtain of Parrhasius, or IX. the grapes of Zeuxis. Boccaccio has introduced this celebrated painter with great approbation in one of his novels; a singular conversation is said to have occurred between him and Dante'; and Petrarca held his works in such high esteem, that one of his pictures is the subject of a legacy to a particular friend in i Vasari vita di Giotto. k Giotto ebbe un ingegno di tanta eccellenza, che niuna cosa dà la natura, madre di tutte le cose, ed operatrice, col continuo girar de' cieli, che egli con lo stile, e con la penna, e col pennello non dipignesse, sì simile a quella, che non simile, anzi più tosto dessa paresse. Decam. Gior. vi. Nov. 5. Benvenuto da Imola, one of the commentators of Dante, relates, that whilst Giotto resided at Padua, Dante paid him a visit, and was received by him with great attention. Observing however that the children. of Giotto bore a great resemblance to their father, whose features and appearance were not very prepossessing, he inquired how it came to pass that his pictures and his children were so very unlike each other, the former being so beautiful, the latter so coarse. Quia pingo de die, sed fingo de nocte, said the painter. Manni, Illust. del Bocc. p. 417. IX. CHA P. in his will". Upwards of a century after his death, Lorenzo de' Medici, well aware that the most efficacious method of exciting the talents of the living is to confer due honour on departed merit, raised a bust to his memory in the church of S. Maria del Fiore, the inscription for which was furnished by Politiano.". his works. 1 Character of The merits of Giotto and his school are appreciated with great judgment by Vasari, who attributes to him and his predecessor Cimabue the credit of having banished the insipid m Transeo ad dispositionem aliarum rerum; predicto igitur domino meo Paduano, quia et ipse per Dei gratiam non eget, et ego nihil aliud habeo dignum se, mitto Tabulam meam sive historiam Beatæ virginis Maria, operis Jocti pictoris egregii, quæ mihi ab amico meo Michele Vannis de Florentia missa est, in cujus pulchritudinem ignorantes non intelligunt, magistri autem artis stupent. Vasari vita di Giotto. n Ille ego sum per quem Pictura extincta revixit, Naturæ deerat nostræ quod defuit arti; Plus licuit nulli pingere nec melius. insipid and spiritless manner introduced by CHAP. the Greek artists, and given rise to a new IX. and more natural style of composition. This the historian denominates the maniera di Giotto°. "Instead of the harsh outline, circumscribing "the • Proemio di Giorgio Vasari to the second part of his work, written, like all his other prefaces, with great judgment, candour, and historical knowledge of his art. Tractant fabrilia fabri―The early painters are fortunate in possessing an historian, who without envy, spleen, or arrogance, and with as little prejudice or partiality as the imperfection of human nature will allow, has distributed to each of his characters his due portion of applause. If he has on any occasion shown too apparent a bias in favour of an individual, it leans towards Michelagnolo Buonarroti, in whose friendship he gloried, and whose works he diligently studied; but an excess of admiration for this great man will scarcely be imputed to him as a fault. As a painter and an architect, Vasari holds a respectable rank. In the former department, his productions are extremely numerous. One of his principal labours is his historical suit of pictures of the Medici family, with their portraits, painted for the great duke Cosmo I. in the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence, of which Vasari himself has given a particular account, published by Filippo Giunti, in 1588, and entitled Ragionamenti del Sig. Cav. Giorgio Vasari sopra le invenzione da lui dipinte in Firenze, &c. Reprinted in Arezzo, 1762. In this series of pictures are represented the principal incidents in the life of Lorenzo. This work has been engraved, but not in such a manner as to do justice to the painter. CHAP. the whole figure, the glaring eyes, the IX. pointed feet and hands, and all the defects "arising from a total want of shadow, the figures of Giotto exhibit a better attitude, "the heads have an air of life and freedom, the "drapery is more natural, and there are even some attempts at fore-shortening the limbs." "Besides these improvements," continues this "author, "Giotto was the first who represented " in his pictures, the effect of the passions on "the human countenance. That he did not "proceed further must be attributed to the "difficulties which attend the progress of the "art, and to the want of better examples. (6 many of the essential requisites of his profes"sion, he was indeed equaled, if not surpassed, "by some of his contemporaries. The colour In ing of Gaddi had more force and harmony, " and the attitudes of his figures more vivacity. "Simone da Sienna is to be preferred to him "in the composition of his subjects, and other "painters excelled him in other branches of "the art; but Giotto had laid the solid found. "ation of their improvements. It is true, all "that was effected by these masters may be "considered only as the first rude sketch of a "sculptor towards completing an elegant statue, "and if no further progress had been made, "there would not, upon the whole, have been "' much IX. "much to commend; but whoever considers c H ap. "the difficulties under which their works were “executed, the ignorance of the times, the "rarity of good models, and the impossibility "of obtaining instruction, will esteem them "not only as commendable, but wonderful "productions, and will perceive with pleasure "these first sparks of improvement which "were afterwards fanned into so bright a “flame.” encourage The patronage of the family of the Medici The Medici is almost contemporary with the commencement the arts. of the art. Giovanni de' Medici, the father of Cosmo, had employed his fellow-citizen, Lorenzo de' Bicci, to ornament with portraits a chamber in one of his houses in Florence, which afterwards became the residence of Lorenzo, the brother of Cosmo". The liberality of Cosmo led the way to further improve ment. Under Masaccio, the study of nature Masaccio. and actual observation were substituted for cold and servile imitation. By this master, his competitors, and his scholars, every component branch of the art was carried to some degree of perfection. P Vasar, in vita di Lor. de' Bicci. |