Part 1
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LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO VASARI VOLUME II. BERNA TO MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 1912
LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO VASARI: NEWLY TRANSLATED BY GASTON Du C. DE VERE. WITH FIVE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS: IN TEN VOLUMES
PHILIP LEE WARNER, PUBLISHER TO THE MEDICI SOCIETY, LIMITED 7 GRAFTON ST. LONDON, W. 1912-14
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II
PAGE
BERNA 1
DUCCIO 7
ANTONIO VINIZIANO 13
JACOPO DI CASENTINO 21
SPINELLO ARETINO 27
GHERARDO STARNINA 41
LIPPO 47
DON LORENZO MONACO 53
TADDEO BARTOLI 59
LORENZO DI BICCI 65
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE SECOND PART 75
JACOPO DELLA QUERCIA [JACOPO DELLA FONTE] 89
NICCOLÒ ARETINO [NICCOLÒ D'AREZZO _OR_ NICCOLÒ DI PIERO LAMBERTI] 99
DELLO 105
NANNI D'ANTONIO DI BANCO 111
LUCA DELLA ROBBIA 117
PAOLO UCCELLO 129
LORENZO GHIBERTI [LORENZO DI CIONE GHIBERTI _OR_ LORENZO DI BARTOLUCCIO GHIBERTI] 141
MASOLINO DA PANICALE 163
PARRI SPINELLI 169
MASACCIO 181
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI [FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO] 193
DONATO [DONATELLO] 237
MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 257
INDEX OF NAMES 273
ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME II
PLATES IN COLOUR
FACING PAGE BERNA The Agony in the Garden San Gimignano 4
DUCCIO Central Panel: The Majestas Siena: Opera del Duomo 10
DUCCIO The Three Maries at the Siena: Opera del Duomo 10 Tomb
BERNARDO DADDI Altar-piece: Madonna and Florence: Accademia, 127 26 Child Enthroned
SPINELLO ARETINO The Death of the Virgin Siena: Pinacoteca, 125 34
DON LORENZO MONACO The Annunciation Florence: Accademia, 143 58
TADDEO BARTOLI Central Panel of Altar- Perugia: Pinacoteca 60 piece: Madonna, Child, and Angels
DOMENICO BARTOLI Madonna Orans Siena: Chapel of the Refugio 64
LORENZO DI BICCI Madonna and Child, with Empoli: Gallery 70 a Donor
PAOLO UCCELLO The Battle of San Egidio London: N. G., 583 134
MASOLINO DA PANICALE Madonna and Child Empoli: S. Stefano 166
MASACCIO The Adoration of the Magi Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 58A 184
MASACCIO Madonna Enthroned, with Brant Broughton: Rev. A. Angel Musicians F. Sutton's Collection 190
PLATES IN MONOCHROME
BERNA Madonna and Child Asciano: S. Francesco 2
LUCA DI TOMÈ The Assumption of the Newhaven, U.S.A.: Jarvis Virgin Collection 6
DUCCIO The Madonna Enthroned Siena: Opera del Duomo 8
DUCCIO Triptych London: N. G., 566 12
ANTONIO VINIZIANO The Return of S. Ranieri Pisa: Campo Santo 16 JACOPO DI CASENTINO Tabernacle Florence: Arte della 24 Lana SPINELLO ARETINO The Annunciation Arezzo: SS. Annunziata 32
DON LORENZO MONACO The Coronation of the Virgin Florence: Uffizi, 1309 56
TADDEO BARTOLI Polyptych Perugia: Gallery, 9 62
DONATO (DONATELLO) David Florence: Bargello 86
JACOPO DELLA Detail from the Tomb: Lucca: S. Martino 90 QUERCIA Head of Ilaria del Carretto
JACOPO DELLA QUERCIA Madonna and Child Bologna: S. Petronio 94
MATTEO CIVITALI Tomb of S. Romano Lucca: S. Romano 96
MATTEO CIVITALI Madonna and Child Lucca: Museo 98
NICCOLÒ ARETINO S. Mark Florence: Duomo 102
NANNI D'ANTONIO DI BANCO Madonna Della Cintola Florence: Duomo 114
LUCA DELLA ROBBIA Cantoria Florence: Opera del 118 Duomo
LUCA DELLA ROBBIA Tomb of Bishop Federighi Florence: S. Trinita 120
LUCA DELLA ROBBIA The Madonna of the Roses Florence: Bargello 122
ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA Altar-piece Arezzo: S. Maria in Grado 126
ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA The Annunciation La Verna 126
GIOVANNI DELLA The Visitation Pistoia: S. Giovanni ROBBIA Fuorcivitas 128
PAOLO UCCELLO The Deluge Florence: S. Maria 136 Novella PAOLO UCCELLO Portraits Paris: Louvre, 1272 138
LORENZO GHIBERTI S. John before Herod Siena: Baptistery 150
LORENZO GHIBERTI Detail: The Fall of Jericho Florence: Paradise Gate, the Baptistery 156
LORENZO GHIBERTI Detail: The Creation Florence: Paradise Gate, _See also at p. 200 of Eve the Baptistery 156 below_
MASOLINO DA PANICALE S. John the Baptist Castiglione d'Olona: Baptistery 164 MASOLINO DA PANICALE Madonna and Child Bremen: Kunsthalle 168
MASACCIO The Trinity Florence: S. Maria 186 Novella
MASACCIO The Tribute Money Florence: S. Maria 192 del Carmine
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI The Crucifixion Florence: S. Maria 198 Novella LORENZO GHIBERTI The Sacrifice of Florence: Bargello 200 Isaac
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI The Sacrifice of Florence: Bargello 200 Isaac FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI The Dome of the Florence 216 Cathedral
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI The Old Sacristy of Florence 226 S. Lorenzo
DONATO (DONATELLO) Poggio Bracciolini Florence: Duomo 240
DONATO (DONATELLO) Judith Florence: Loggia 242 dei Lanzi
DONATO (DONATELLO) General Gattamelata Padua: Piazza di 246 S. Antonio
DONATO (DONATELLO) Madonna and Child Padua: S. Antonio 248
DONATO (DONATELLO) Altar Relief: The Padua: S. Antonio 250 Entombment _See also at p. 86 above_
MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI Palazzo Riccardi Florence 264
BERNA
LIFE OF BERNA
PAINTER OF SIENA
If those who labour to become excellent in some art did not very often have the thread of life cut by death in their best years, I have no doubt that many intellects would arrive at that rank which is most desired both by them and by the world. But the short life of men and the bitterness of various accidents, which threaten them from all sides, snatch them from us sometimes prematurely, as could be seen in poor young Berna of Siena, who, although he died young, nevertheless left so many works that he appears to have lived very long; and those that he left were made in such a way, that it may well be believed from this showing that he would have become excellent and rare if he had not died so soon. In two chapels of S. Agostino in Siena there are seen some little pictures with figures in fresco, by his hand; and in the church, on a wall now pulled down in order to make chapels there, was a scene of a youth led to execution, as well made as it could possibly be imagined, there being seen expressed in it the pallor and fear of death, in so lifelike a manner that he deserved therefore the highest praise. Beside the said youth was a friar painted in a very fine attitude, and, in short, everything in that work is so vividly wrought that it appears, indeed, that in this work Berna imagined this event as most horrible, as it must be, and full of most bitter and cruel terror, seeing that he portrayed it so well with the brush that the same scene appearing in reality would not stir greater emotion.
In the city of Cortona, also, besides many other works scattered in many places in that city, he painted the greater part of the vaulting and of the walls of the Church of S. Margherita, where to-day is the seat of the Frati Zoccolanti. From Cortona he went to Arezzo in the year 1369, exactly when the Tarlati, formerly Lords of Pietramala, had caused Moccio, a sculptor and architect of Siena, to finish the Convent and the body of the Church of S. Agostino in that city, in the lesser aisles of which many citizens had caused chapels and tombs to be made for their families; and there, in the Chapel of S. Jacopo, Berna painted in fresco some little scenes of the life of that Saint, and especially vivid is the story of Marino the swindler, who, having by reason of greed of gold given his soul to the Devil and made thereunto a written contract in his own hand, is making supplication to the Saint to free him from this promise, while a Devil, showing him the contract, is pressing him with the greatest insistence in the world. In all these figures Berna expressed the emotions of the mind with much vivacity, and particularly in the face of Marino, which shows on one side fear, and on the other the faith and trust that make him hope for his liberation from S. James, although opposite there is seen the Devil, hideous to a marvel, who is warmly speaking and declaring his rights to the Saint, who, after having instilled into Marino extreme penitence for his sin and for the promise made, is liberating him and leading him back to God. This same story, says Lorenzo Ghiberti, by the hand of the same man, was in a chapel of the Capponi, dedicated to S. Nicholas, in S. Spirito at Florence, before that church was burnt down. After this work, then, Berna painted a great Crucifix in a chapel of the Vescovado of Arezzo for Messer Guccio di Vanni Tarlati da Pietramala, and at the foot of the Cross a Madonna, S. John the Evangelist, and S. Francis, in most sorrowful attitudes, together with a S. Michelagnolo, with so much diligence that it merits no small praise, and above all by reason of having been so well preserved that it appears made only yesterday. Below, moreover, is the portrait of the said Guccio, kneeling in armour at the foot of the Cross. In the Pieve of the same city, in the Chapel of the Paganelli, he painted many stories of Our Lady, and portrayed there after the life the Blessed Rinieri, a holy man and prophet of that house, who is giving alms to many beggars who are round him. In S. Bartolommeo, also, he painted some stories of the Old Testament and the story of the Magi; and in the Church of Spirito Santo he painted some stories of S. John the Evangelist, and in certain figures the portrait of himself and of many of his friends, nobles of that city.
Returning after these works to his own country, he made on wood many pictures both small and great; but he made no long stay there, because, being summoned to Florence, he painted in S. Spirito the Chapel of S. Niccolò, which we have mentioned above, and which was much extolled, and other works that were consumed in the miserable burning of that church. In the Pieve of San Gimignano in Valdelsa he wrought in fresco some stories of the New Testament, which he had already very nearly brought to completion, when, falling by a strange accident from his scaffolding to the ground, he bruised himself internally in such a manner, and injured himself so grievously, that in the space of two days, with greater loss to art than to himself, who went to a better place, he passed from this life. And the people of San Gimignano, honouring him much in the way of obsequies, gave to his body honourable burial in the aforesaid Pieve, holding him after death in the same repute wherein they had held him in life, and not ceasing for many months to attach round his tomb epitaphs both Latin and Italian, by reason of the men of that country being naturally given to fine letters. So, then, they conferred a suitable reward on the honest labours of Berna, celebrating with their pens him who had honoured them with his pictures.
Giovanni da Asciano, who was a pupil of Berna, brought to completion the remainder of that work; and he painted some pictures in the Hospital of the Scala at Siena, and also some others in the old houses of the Medici at Florence, which gave him considerable fame. The works of Berna of Siena date about 1381. And because, besides what has been said, Berna was passing dexterous in draughtsmanship and was the first who began to portray animals well, as bears witness a drawing by his hand that is in our book, all full of wild beasts of diverse sorts, he deserves to be consummately praised and to have his name held in honour by craftsmen. His disciple, too, was Luca di Tomè of Siena, who painted many works in Siena and throughout all Tuscany, and in particular the panel and the chapel that are in S. Domenico at Arezzo, belonging to the family of the Dragomanni; which chapel, German in architecture, was very well adorned, by means of the said panel and of the work that is therein in fresco, by the hand and by the judgment and genius of Luca of Siena.
DUCCIO
LIFE OF DUCCIO
PAINTER OF SIENA
Without doubt those who are inventors of anything notable receive the greatest attention from the pens of the writers of history, and this comes to pass because the first inventions are more observed and held in greater marvel, by reason of the delight that the novelty of the thing brings with it, than all the improvements made afterwards by any man whatsoever when works are brought to the height of perfection, for the reason that if a beginning were never given to anything, there would be no advance and improvement in the middle stages, and the end would not become excellent and of a marvellous beauty. Duccio, then, painter of Siena and much esteemed, deserved to carry off the palm from those who came many years after him, since in the pavement of the Duomo of Siena he made a beginning in marble for the inlaid work of the figures in chiaroscuro, wherein to-day modern craftsmen have made the marvels that are seen in them. He applied himself to the imitation of the old manner, and with very sane judgment gave dignified forms to his figures, which he fashioned very excellently in spite of the difficulties of such an art. With his own hand, imitating the pictures in chiaroscuro, he arranged and designed the beginnings of the said pavement, and he made in the Duomo a panel that was then placed on the high-altar, and afterwards removed thence in order to place there the Tabernacle of the Body of Christ, which is seen there at the present day. In this panel, according to the description of Lorenzo di Bartolo Ghiberti, there was a Coronation of Our Lady, wrought, as it were, in the Greek manner, but blended considerably with the modern. And as it was painted both on the back part and on the front, the said high-altar being isolated right round, on the said back part there had been made by Duccio with much diligence all the principal stories of the New Testament, with very beautiful little figures. I have sought to learn where this panel is to be found to-day, but, for all the diligence that I have thereunto used, I have never been able to discover it, or to learn what Francesco di Giorgio, the sculptor, did with it when he remade the said tabernacle in bronze, as well as the marble ornaments that are therein.
He made, likewise, many panels on grounds of gold throughout Siena, and one in Florence, in S. Trinita, wherein there is an Annunciation. He painted, next, very many works for diverse churches in Pisa, in Lucca, and in Pistoia, which were all consummately praised and acquired for him very great fame and profit. Finally, it is not known where this Duccio died, nor what relatives, disciples, or wealth he left; it is enough that, for having left art the heir to his invention of making pictures of marble in chiaroscuro, he deserves infinite commendation and praise for such a benefit to art, and that he can be assuredly numbered among the benefactors who confer advancement and adornment on our profession, considering that those who go on investigating the difficulties of rare inventions leave their memory behind them, besides all their marvellous works.
They say in Siena that Duccio, in the year 1348, gave the design for the chapel that is in the square, against the wall of the Palazzo Principale; and it is read that there lived in his times a sculptor and architect of passing good talent from the same country, named Moccio, who made many works throughout all Tuscany, and particularly one in the Church of S. Domenico in Arezzo, namely, a tomb of marble for one of the Cerchi, which tomb acts as support and ornament for the organ of the said church; and although it may appear to some that it is not a very excellent work, yet, if it is considered that he made it while still a youth, in the year 1356, it cannot but seem passing good. This man served in the building of S. Maria del Fiore as under-architect and as sculptor, making certain works in marble for that fabric; and in Arezzo he rebuilt the Church of S. Agostino, which was small, in the manner that it is to-day, and the expense was borne by the heirs of Piero Saccone de' Tarlati, according as he had ordained before he died in Bibbiena, a place in the Casentino; and because Moccio erected this church without any vaulting, and laid the weight of the roof on the arches of the columns, he exposed himself to a great peril and was truly too bold. The same man made the Church and Convent of S. Antonio, which, before the siege of Florence, was at the Porta a Faenza, and to-day is wholly ruined; and he wrought in sculpture the door of S. Agostino in Ancona, with many figures and ornaments similar to those which are on the door of S. Francesco in the same city. In this Church of S. Agostino he also made the tomb of Fra Zenone Vigilanti, Bishop, and General of the Order of the said S. Augustine; and finally, he built the Loggia de' Mercatanti of that city, which has since received, now for one reason and now for another, many improvements in the modern manner, with ornaments of various sorts. All these works, although they are in these days much less than passable, were then much extolled, according to the standard of knowledge of these men. But returning to our Duccio, his works date about the year of our salvation 1350.
ANTONIO VINIZIANO
LIFE OF ANTONIO VINIZIANO
PAINTER