Artist-Biographies (1880) 1 PDF
Artist-Biographies (1880) 1 PDF
Artist-Biographies (1880) 1 PDF
*MlCHAEL AnGELO *
4^
ILLUSTRATED
JL a
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES
THE GIFT OF
MAY TREAT MORRISON
IN MEMORY OF
ALEXANDER F MORRISON
^M^'
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES.
IN FIVE VOLUMES,
Vol. I.
RAPHAEL
\ . V
3 'J ^ )
i^VTfoJ^S^^.j.i'
BOSTON:
HOUGHTON, OSGOOD AND COMPANY.
Wifi iAtbersitie Press, (lam&ritise.
1880.
Copyright, 1877,
An Sights Reterved.
PREFACE.
3
4 PREFACE,
M. F. SWEETSER,
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
1483-1495. FAGI
Giovann. Santi. Urbino. Birth of Raphael. Early studies.
Perugia. The Umbrian School. Perugino. . . . 7
CHAPTER II.
1495-1504.
CHAPTER III.
1 504-1 508.
CHAPTER IV.
1508-1513.
CHAPTER V.
1513-1514-
CHAPTER VII.
1516-1518. PAGE
Raphael's Paintings in 1516, 1517, and 1518. The Madonnas at
CHAPTER VIII.
1518-1520.
. . ..
i|t
ILLUSTRATIONS.
RAPHAEL,
Portrait of Raphael .... Frontispiece.
St. Cecilia 78
LEONARDO DA VINCI,
MoNNA Lisa 58
MICHAEL ANGELO,
Portrait of Michael Angelo .... 6
Cartoon of Pisa 32
The Last Judgment . , ... . . 98
The Three Fates .130
RAPHAEL.
CHAPTER I.
Giovanni Santi. - Urbino.
- Birth of Raphael. - Early Studies.
Perugia. The Umbrian School. Perugmo.
the Prince of
Raphael Sanzio da Urbino,
was born in the city of Urbino, on the
Painters,
The family of Santi, or San-
6th of April, 1483.
which in-
zio,was an old and respectable one,
ecclesiastics, and had
cluded several artists and
recently moved Urbino from the outlying castle-
to
Santi
hamlet of Colbordolo. The young Giovanni
simplicity of conception.
Giovanni was also
and
hundred
a poet, and wrote a quaint epic of two
. "
8 RAPHAEL,
and twenty-four pages in terzii rima^ now in the
Vatican Libriry, celebrating the martial deeds of
the Duke'; of U ""biuo
The natal city of Raphael stands on a bold
cliff over the brawling Metaurus, surrounded by
the sharp peaks of the central Apennines, and
commanding a distant view of the blue Adriatic.
paintings.
1 RAPHAEL
CHAPTER II.
of character
slowly acquiring a deeper spirituality
and a closer fidelity to nature. Among his pro-
city beyond.
joys of earthly luxury in the stately
work to Lo Spagna.
When the Urbinese lad entered Perugino's
of the
from the Flos Sanctorum, or the Gospel
church.
Nativity, then very popular in the Italian
CHAPTER III.
AT URBINO. 33
Pesth.
Florentine patrician.
Yet who shall say that this great change v/as
CHAPTER IV.
hands of an advocate.
Some of the lunettes and ceiling-frescos were
done by pupils, and show much inequality of
plundered pictures.
About this time the wealthy Agostino Chigi
was leading the life of a Maecenas, assembling
58 RAPHAEL.
in the Church of St. Augustine, and ordered
Raphael to execute a fres(^.o of the Prophet Isaiah
Pitti Palace.
pudiates it utterly.
CHAPTER V.
The Accession of Leo X. Raphael's Palace and his Friends.
Paintings 15 13-14. Appointed Architect of St.
in Peter's,
Maria da Bibiena.
Rome *'
the sink of all abominations ; " but Eras-
radiant city."
Raphael was favorably received by the new
Pope, and was retained at his labors in the Vati-
can. He was already intimate with several of
decadence.
In 15 13 the well-beloved monk-artist. Era Bar-
tolommeo, came to Rome, and was bewildered
with the grand works of Michael Angelo and his
former comrade. He was hospitably received by
Raphael, to whom he had long been dear. Bar-
swer :
" You need not be surprised. I have given
them that color after much deliberation ; for it
never to return.
Raphael tried in vain to bring to Rome his
8o RAPHAEL,
Apostles."
His deep interest in the new work appears in
statement.
In July, 15 14, Raphael wrote the following
letter, which illustrates his position and pros-
pects :
" To my uncle, dear to me as a father,
CHAPTER VI.
The Vatican Decorations. The Stanza Incendio. The
dell'
execution.
9 RAPHAEL.
Roman Church.
The first fresco in the Stanza dell' Incendio is
upward gaze cries out, " Lord, lay not this sin to
God.
98 RAPHAEL.
In these tapestries the master showed how
well he apprehended the radical ideas of early
Christian history, and how carefully he adhered
engravings.
A duplicate set of these tapestries was made
at Arras, and presented to Henry VIII. of Eng-
land by the Venetian Republic. After the exe-
cution of Charles I. it was taken to Spain by the
Duke of Alva, but returned to London some dec-
Vienna. - - .. .
CHAPTER VII.
Madrid.
" The Madonna of the Pearl " represents the
114 RAPHAEL.
trait.
aiirea.
coarse tints.
CHAPTER VIII.
Raphael's Last Two Years. His Personal Appearance and Siu-
roundings. " The Transfiguration." Death of Raphael.
128 RAPHAEL.
brilliant train. Michael Angelo was accustomed
to go alone ; and one day when he met Raphael
and his disciples, he exclaimed, " Where are you
going thus, surrounded like a general ?
" to which
his young rival replied, " And you, alone, like the
hangman ?
dom."
After these almost miraculous achievements,
no further advance seems to have been possible,
even to Raphael. Why, then, need he linger to
burst into tears, and cried out, " Ora pro nobis^^^
RaPHAELI
SAI4CTIO ' lOANN * F URBINATI
*
Facile Inspexeris
IvLii II
Et Leonis
X Pont Maxx Pictvrae
VIII Id Aprilis
MDXX.
Qvo Sospite Vinci
Ille Hic Est Raphael Timvit
Rervm Magna Parens Et Moriente Mort.
144 RAPHAEL.
collateral episodes with the main action of the
picture.
RAPHAEL'S PAINTINGS
NOW IN EXISTENCE, WITH THE DATES OF THEIR EXECU-
TION, AND THEIR PRESENT LOCATIONS.
ITALY.
Isaiah, 151 2.
na, 1 518.
dec (?).
;
FRANCE.
The Louvre. La Belle Jardiniere, 1508; the Virgin
SPAIN.
ENGLAND.
London. National Gallery^ St Catherine of Alex-
andria, 1507 ; the Knight's Dream, 1500; Julius II. (replica)
GERMANY.
Berlin Museum, Solly Madonna, 1501 ; Madonna
with Sts. Jerome and Francis, 1 503 ; Terranuova Madonna,
(coi Bambini), 1505; Madonna della Casa Colonna, 1508;
Pieta, 1504; St. Lodovico ; St. Ercolano, 1504; Diotalevi
Madonna; Adoration of the Shepherds (?). Dr. Spicker,
A Carthusian Monk.
Munich Pinakothek, Holy Family of the Canigi-
ani Family, 1506; Madonna della Tenda, 1516; Madonna
of the Tempi Family, 1506; Baptism and Resurrection of
Christ (two doubtful pictures); Bindo Altoviti, 1512; Por-
trait of a Man, 1505 ; Small Head frescoed on a brick, 1505.
Dresden Museum, The Sistine Madonna, 1518.
AUSTRIA.
^52 INDEX,
Julius II., 34, 43i 64, '^ Oath of Leo III., Tfu^ 93*
Jurisprudence^ ^
Pagan Revival, 6;
Knighfs Dream, 20. Palace of Raphael, 71.
Parnassus, The, 47.
Last Sickness, 127. Penni, 107.
Last Supper, 27, _
Perugia, 11, 28.
Leonardo da Vinci, 26, 29, 7a Perugino, 14, 44, 51.
Leo X., 66, 74, 94, 117. Physique of Raphael, 125.
Letter, Joanna's, 23. Pinturicchio, ig.
Loggie, The, 88. Portrait of Raphael, 34.
Lo Spasitno, iii. Pupils, 105.
Leonardo da Vinci.
BOSTON:
HOUGHTON, OSGOOD AND COMPANY.
(Cl^? lt!ibcr?iDe ^re?^, CamBrib0e,
1880.
Copyright.
By HOUGHTON, OSGOOD & CO.
1878.
M. F. SWEETSER.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGB
The Castle of Vinci and Inmates. Verocchio's Studio. Leo-
its
CHAPTER II.
Journey to Milaru The Welcome. The Sforzas. Cecilia and
Lucrezia. The Villa Melzi. The Equestrian Statue. Sculp-
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
Return to Florence. Perugino and Monna Lisa.
Botticelli.
Cartoons 54
CHAPTER V.
5
6 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
The Exodus of Leonardo's School. Leonardo at Rome. Leo X.
Pictures painted at Rome. The Old Master overmatched . 8a
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER I.
Letter.
at hand.
The richest blooming-time of art was also
lo LEONARDO DA VINCI.
ture was yet far away ; and genius made its own
rules, and felt its own way, slowly and painfully,
sometimes indeed wrongly, but, in the long run,
surely and freely.
cents.
FIRST ACHIEVEMENTS. 1$
The picture of *
Neptune was another
' long-lost
*
The Madonna della Caraffa ' was another pic-
1 LEONARDO DA VINCI.
personal presence.
Leonardo spent about eleven years in Florence,
would then let them fly into the air, thus restoring
20 LEONARDO DA VINCI.
\
CHAPTER II.
THE WELCOME. 25
With all that 's good and great the court is thronged
28 LEONARDO DA VINCI.
parent.
CECILIA AND LUCREZIA. 29
FESTIVALS. ZZ
system of ropes and cables that this result was
achieved with but little difficult}^ It is said that
tempts at engraving.
During the same year the gentle and saintly
Italy. " Let the brass flow " {Fluat ! ces /) cried
CHAPTER III.
fully felt.
character.
48 LEONARDO DA VINCI.
his hand ;
Judas, holding the money-bag ; and St.
longer visible.
The photographs show the picture, not as Leo-
nardo left it, but as the restorers have utterly re-
Dick.
54 LEONARDO DA VIKCL
CHAPTER IV.
the city, and shared his house with his old friend,
Fra Paciolo, and the beautiful youth, Salai.
*
The Madonna, St. Anna, and the Infant Christ,
58 LEONARDO DA VINCI.
blood. '
The Battle of the Standard ' was an
episode of the battle of Anghiari, which the Flor-
entines fought against the North-Italians. The I
master worked on his cartoon in the Hall of^ the
CHAPTER V.
me ;
perhaps also I shall get him to paint my por-
trait." Pandolfini, the ambassador, reported this
70 LEONARDO DA VINCI.
HIGH PROSPERITY. 73
twice.
or '
Vanity.' It is believed by many critics that
thenticity."
of the art-critics.
CHAPTER VI.
and bade him " work for the glory of God, Italy,
tion :
" Leonardo, having composed a kind of paste
from wax, made of this, while it was still in its
who came to visit him, and all who saw it ran away
terrified. He more than once, likewise, caused
the intestines of a sheep to be cleaned and scraped
until they were brought into such a state of tenuity
CHAPTER VII.
VINEYARD LESSONS. 9
direction, for there are but few men who can follow
Angelo and Titian in carrying on mighty enter-
prises to the very close of a long life. No more
great works issued from Leonardo's once busy
brain and skilful hand, and he made only a few
bed."
It has been inferred from certain expressions
used by Vasari when writing of his last days, that
98 LEONARDO DA VINCI.
me worse."
There are no indications that Leonardo fell
cient writers.
i
THE LOST TOMB. 103
arms of Francis.
ms FAME. 107
CHAPTER VIII.
Humboldt says :
" He was the greatest physical
no LEONARDO DA VINCI.
A TLANTIC CODEX. 1 1
1 1 LEONARDO DA VINCI,
drainage.
its phenomena.
In mechanical science he made yet deeper
studies, saying that " No insensible thing can
move of itself; its motion must be caused by
others," and the moving power is force, which
he thus defines :
" Force is a power spiritual, in-
in the MSS.
It is probable that he wrote a treatise on human
anatomy; and his drawings on this theme still
;
philosophical sonnet :
*'
If what thou wouldst thou canst not, then content thee
'
Shall I now go back to the shop which I have
just quitted ? Certainly it cannot be pleasing to
the gods that such dazzling beauty should be
linked to such baseness of spirit. What a mad-
himself :
'
How much better had I kept up the lost
keenness of my edge, by practising with my friend
strument incorporeal.
" When all seems easy, it is an unerring sign that
the workman has but scant ability, and that the
task is above his comprehension.
" The criticism of enemies is more valuable than
the praises of friends, because friends desire only
rudder or compass.
" A painter who servilely abandons himself to the
manner of another painter, shuts the window on
truth, since he ought not to augment the works of
men, but those of nature.
" In the silence of the night, recall the ideas of
APHORISMS. 127
opposed to purple.
CHAPTER IX.
Art.
J
fully to his tenets ; and it would be difficult to find \
\
these were Luini, Solario, Marco d'Oggione, Ce- 1
''
Vasari adds:
" It is worthy of admiration that this great gen-
ITALY.
Florence. Uffizi Gallery, Medusa's Head; Portrait
Scales.
NORTHERN EUROPE.
Vienna. Harrach Palace, Christ Bearing the Cross.
GREAT BRITAIN.
London. National Gallery, Christ Disputing with
the Doctors (?). Royal Academy, CdiVtoon of the Virgin
and St. Anne. Lord Ashburton, The Infant Jesus and
MICHAEL ANGELO.
BOSTON
HOUGHTON, OSGOOD AND COMPANY.
%\it l^iijersiUc press, CambriJifle.
1880.
Copyright.
By HOUGHTON, OSGOOD & CO.
M. F. SWEETSER.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
I475-I49S- PAGB
Caprese Castle. Angelo's Parents. His Teachers. In the Medici
Palace. The Platonists. Flight from Florence. Sojourn and
V/orks at Bologna 7
CHAPTER n.
1496-1505.
CHAPTER III.
1506-1513,
CHAPTER IV.
1514-1522.
CHAPTER V.
1523-1532.
CHAPTER VI.
1533-1546. PAGE
The Medici Chairel. Paul III. The Last Judgment. The Capitol.
The Famese Palace. The Statue of Moses .... 90
CHAPTER VII.
1547-1553-
CHAPTER VIII.
J554-I564-
CHAPTER I.
his books, and gave up all his leisure hours, for the
lO MICHAEL ANGELO.
these artistic predilections were likely to disturb the
UNDER GHIRLANDAJO. \\
14 MICHAEL ANGELO.
to the gardens in which the antique sculptures
tyr-monk.
Politian was the teacher of the Medici youths,
and was much pleased by the lofty spirit of Angelo,
and his love for the beautiful and the true. He
gave him valuable instruction in many ways, but
6
1 MICHAEL ANGELO.
chiefly in long and familiar conversations, wherein
A PUNISHMENT. 1
Spain
8
1 MICHAEL ANGELO,
In April, 1492, Lorenzo the Magnificent expired
at his villa of Careggi. " In the bitterest of suffer-
of the exile.
CHAPTER IL
courtesy.
peared.
CHAPTER III.
trously.
40 MICHAEL ANGELO.
haim if he should return, and engaging to advance
money as fast as it was needed. Angelo answered
promptly, recapitulating his grievances, and stating
A TURKISH INVITATION, 4
42 MICHAEL ANGELO.
ing this spring-time, Julius II. foundea the new
St. Peter's Church, at Rome, in whose construction
the master afterwards bore so prominent a part.
**
Here helms and swords are made of chalices
His cross and thorns are spears and shields ; and short
Must be the time ere even His patience cease.
the clay model was ready before the Pope left for
48 MICHAEL ANGELO.
Bologna while Angelo was there, but it is not
Noah.
The fourth picture on the ceiling contains the
56 MICHAEL ANGELO.
ments having been illustrated in the central space,
Angelo proceeded to show forth the promised re-
expectation.
tion.
works."
RAPHAEL. 59
CHAPTER IV.
VL
rous Angelo said that " All that Raphael has of art,
ments :
" See the work of Raphael, who, as soon
SELF-DENIALS. 6
saying :
" If you will take care to do well, and to
honor and revere your father, I will aid you like the
be taken down.
In the mean time the Pope had excommunicatetl
the Florentine State, because it persisted in its alli-
piece.
66 MICHAEL ANGELO.
Early in 1515, Angelo began to draw his own
funds from the banker at Florence, to carry on the
IN THE MOUNTAINS. 69
plans impracticable.
70 MICHAEL ANGELO.
but the Pope and Cardinal de' Medici wrote to him,
insisting that Salviati and other masters had praised
the Serravezza marble, and intimating that the men
of Carrara had bribed him to discredit the new
quarries. Leo ordered that no other marble than
that of Serravezza should be used in the works at
himself.
paint *
The Transfiguration,' he also commissioned
Sebastiano del Piombo to illustrate '
The Resurrec-
tion of Lazarus.'. Angelo furnished parts of the
design for the latter, and it was thought that
SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO. 73
74 MICHAEL ANGELO.
He asb, d the Pope for permission to visit Rome,
but was refused j and Sebastiano urged him to go
in spite thereof, mysteriously hinting that he was
needed there to look after the Castle of Canossa,
CHAPTER V.
with the Pope his plans for the chapel and the new
Laurentian Library, and was menaced by the Duke
;
A COLOSSUS. 79
FLORENCE'S REVOLT. 8
lofty site over the city and the Vale of the Arno.
When the Imperiahsts occupied Florence, and
at the *
Leda,' and had angry words with the artist,
90 MICHAEL ANGELO.
CHAPTER VI.
" The Night, which thou dost see in such sweet guise
To sleep, was by an angel [Angelo] hewn
From this rock, and though she sleeps she lives.
ment '
and the Julian statues ; and the Cardinal of
98 MICHAEL ANGELO.
Mantua exclaimed that the statue of Moses was
enough to do all honor to the memory of Julius.
1541.
Towards the end of 1537 the fame of the new
fresco going on in the Sistine Chapel had spread
widely over Italy, and Pietro Aretino, Titian's inti-
less satire.
Dut the old man would not receive him, saying that
he had come only to secure his estate. His home
had been an unpleasant one, and his relatives were
sordid and rapacious, wherefore he would have
none of them in his hours of extremity.
THE SEPULCHRE. 1 07
divine work.
the defences.
TITIAN'S VISIT. 109
CHAPTER VII.
fifteen years.
titude.
IT4 MICHAEL ANGELO.
She gave to Angelo a vellum book, containing
103 of her sonnets, and afterwards sent to him the
40 new ones which she composed at the convent
of Viterbo. He probably returned the favor by
sending to her, with whom he was in continual cor-
respondence, the verses which he himself com-
posed. In 1542 she wrote from Viterbo, saying:
" Magnificent Master, Michael Angelo : I have not
answered your letter before, thinking that if you
and I continue to Avrite according to my obligation
affairs of time.
During the last years of Vittoria's life, she re-
good work !
" but after he had become a Protestant,
met with, but just what you would expect from such
a man, showing abundantly how conversant his
MICHAEL ANGELO.
' Eternal Lord ! eased of a cumbrous load,
And loosened from the world, I turn to Thee
Shun, like a shattered bark, the storm, and flee
canst rule, and who will not care about pomps, and
run about every day to parties and marriages. It
Again he wrote :
" Tell the priest not to address
*
Michael Angelo, Sculptor,' for I am known only
daughter of a neighbor.
Among the artists who felt Angelo's influence and
the Capitol, and built the Porta del Popolo from his
plans. Ammanati also derived from personal con-
tact with the master much of that boldness of con-
ception which enabled him to erect the colossal
statues of Neptune and Hercules, at Florence and
Fadua, and the gigantic statue of Mount Apennine,
60 feet high, at Pratohno. Tribolo, the designer
of the Boboh Gardens, was another of those who
were illuminated by Angelo's genius, having been
his assistant in the
Medicean Chapel. Marco da
Pino of Siena held the position of a friend and
confidant, and subsequently adorned the Kingdom
of Naples, with both paintings and architecture.
Berruguete, the Spaniard, who built the Alcala
Palace, and executed other great works in his own
country, studied under the care of Angelo. Alessi,
the constructor of the fortress of Perugia, and the
designer of many
of the superb palaces of Genoa,
was connected with the same great master in his
early life. Calcagni, a young Florentine architect,
dwelt with Angelo during his last decade, and drew
many clans under his direction.
y
I30 MICHAEL ANGELO,
CHAPTER VIII.
Angelo himself.
Pope Julius III. died in 1555, and was suc-
ceeded (after the brief reign of Pope Marcellus
II.) by Cardinal Caraffa, who took the name of
Paul IV. Paul confirmed the Architect of St.
paid to Nature.
TUSCAN COMPLIMENTS. 141
and said :
" It will be more grand, but not more
well cared for ; and his family and friends sent him
frequent gifts of wine and fruits. Many devoted
friends visited his house, and many assistants also,
prime of nations."
ISO MICHAEL ANGELO.
Says Taine : "There are four men in the world
**
, , , Equel che a par sculpe e colora,
Michel pih che mortal Angiol divino."
ARiosra
;
A LIST OF
SCULPTURES.
I'lisoners (unfinished).
(unfinished.)
Bologna. San Domenico Church, A Kneeling Angel,
1495; St. Petronius, 1495.
PAINTINGS.
ITALY.
ARCHITECTURE.
ITALY.
55
.
S6 INDEX.
Francia, 47. Natiu-e Complimented, 140.
Francis I., 84, 106, 109. Night, ao, 95.
Funeral, 148. Night-Work, 128.
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