The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 5 (of 6) / From the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth Century

We find the name of Isabella dal Pozzo inscribed at the foot of a picture at S. Francis, which represents the Virgin, together with S. Biagio and other saints. The birth-place of this fair artist is unknown to me; but I may observe that, in 1666, when she painted, there were not many better artists in Turin. Somewhat later flourished Gio. Antonio Mareni, a scholar of Baciccio, by whom there is a beautiful picture noticed in the Guide. Towards the beginning of the eighteenth century were employed in those churches, and sometimes in competition with each other, Antonio Mari and Tarquinio Grassi, whether of the family of Niccolò Grassi of Venice, who painted at S. Carlo, I cannot say, but certainly the father of a Gio. Batista. Tarquinio is well known in Turin, and seems to have derived some portion of his style from Cignani and the Bolognese of that age.

SCHOOL OF PIEDMONT AND THE ADJACENT TERRITORY.

The eighteenth century was graced by the reign of three successive princes, all lovers of the fine arts, and was consequently rich in patronage; but from the decline of painting it was not equally rich in the production of great works. Saiter, who lived some years in this century, was succeeded at the court by Agnelli, a Roman, whose style was a mixture of those of Cortona and Maratta. He painted a large hall, which is filled with select pictures, and which now bears his name. Agnelli was in his turn succeeded by Claudio Beaumont of Turin, who after having studied in his native place, repaired to Rome, where he employed himself for a considerable time in copying the works of Raffaello, the Caracci, and Guido. He did not much regard the masters of the Roman School of that day, considering them feeble: he deferred to Trevisani, and aimed at emulating his execution and the vigour of his colouring: he was also desirous of studying the works of the old masters at Venice, but was prevented by his domestic circumstances. On his return to Turin, he became distinguished for the noble style he had acquired in Rome. To appreciate him correctly we must inspect the works of his best time; as the Deposition from the Cross in the church of the S. Croce, or the pictures in fresco in the royal library, where, under various symbols, he has celebrated the ruling family; adding to it a Genius with a cross of a cavaliere, which was the reward he was ambitious of, and which he obtained. He decorated also other rooms with pictures in fresco; the Rape of Helen in one cabinet, and the Judgment of Paris in another, are his productions, alike happy in their general effect and in their separate parts.

The court gave an additional stimulus to his industry by employing, in competition with him, many eminent foreigners, particularly in the reign of King Charles, to embellish the palace, the villas, and the churches of royal foundation; among the latter of which the most remarkable is the church of the Sopperga, erected by Victor II., which contains the family monuments. Beaumont was in consequence brought into competition with Sebastiano Ricci, Giaquinto, Guidoboni, De Mura, Galeotti, and Gio. Batista Vanloo, the celebrated scholar of Luti. Vanloo in Turin distinguished himself both in the frescos of the villas, and in church pictures; and had with him Carlo, his brother and his scholar, who was his assistant, and executed even more works than he. He painted the beautiful decorations of a cabinet in the Palazzo, consisting of subjects from the Jerusalem of Tasso. These princes were moreover accustomed to send commissions to the most distinguished foreign painters, such as Solimene, Trevisani, Masucci, and Pittoni; which gave a stimulus to Beaumont to rival them, or at least to endeavour not to be left too far behind. And thus in his best works he sustains his fame in a commendable manner; at one time excelling in design those who conquer him in colour; at another time surpassing in spirit of execution those who excel him in design. It is the general opinion that his genius declined as he advanced in years; and this is attributed to his superintendance of the working of tapestry, for which, while he made the cartoons, he gradually degenerated into negligence of design, vulgarity in his heads, and above all, crudeness and want of harmony in his colours; a defect not uncommon in those who survived him.

His memory is deservedly held in veneration in his native place. He was the first to form the Turin academy on the model of the greater institutions of that kind: so that it seemed to date a new birth from his time, in 1736 (for it was not before extended to all branches of the art) under the appellation of the Royal Academy; as appears from the Orazione of Tagliazucchi, and the poetry annexed, in a little volume edited in Turin in 1736, entitled,[TN16] Orazione e Poesie per la Instituzione dell'Accademia del disegno, in 8vo. Beaumont educated not only many painters of merit, but also engravers, tapestry-workers, and modellers and statuaries; from which epoch the national cultivation of the fine arts has increased, far beyond the example of former times. Some of those who were the scholars of Beaumont in painting still survive. Some are deceased, (and these alone hold a place in this work,) of similar style, though not of equal talents with their master. Vittorio Blanseri was considered the best amongst them, and was on that account chosen by the court to succeed Beaumont. The three pictures by him at S. Pelagia, and particularly a S. Luigi fainting in the arms of an angel, are much esteemed in Turin; and if I err not, he is superior to his master in the distribution of light and shade. A more correct designer than Blanseri, but inferior in poetical invention, and in knowledge of harmony and colouring, was Gio. Molinari, who painted some pictures in the churches; one of which is at S. Bernardo di Vercelli, a composition of saints, well disposed, with good action, and conducted with great care. In Turin there is an Addolorata by him at the Regio Albergo delle Virtù; others in various places in the state; amongst which in the abbey of S. Benigno is a St. John the Baptist, with a landscape by Cignaroli. In private collections we meet with his historical pieces and his portraits: he painted one of the king, which was highly applauded, and has been very frequently copied. Owing to his character, which was naturally timid, reserved, and modest, he painted history less than he ought to have done. This artist was honoured by the Baron Vernazza with an elegant eulogium, which will confer a lasting honour on his memory. He died nearly at the same time as another eminent Piedmontese of the name of Tesio. Whether or not Tesio was instructed in the art by Beaumont, or by others, I cannot state; but I know that he repaired to Rome, and there became one of the best scholars of Mengs; and at Moncalieri, a delightful residence of the royal family, are to be seen some of the finest specimens of his talents. Felice Cervetti and Mattia Franceschini worked sometimes alone, sometimes in competition, with more facility but less finish, and are pretty frequently met with in Turin. But in Turin, and throughout the state, Antonio Milocco is better known than these, or perhaps any other painter. He was not the scholar, but for some time the companion of the Cavalier Beaumont; more dry than he in design, less cultivated, and inferior to him in all the qualities of a painter: but from a peculiar facility he was often employed by private individuals, and sometimes by the court.

About the same period Giancarlo Aliberti flourished in Asti, his native city, which he adorned with many large compositions. The best of these are at S. Agostino, where, in the cupola of the church he has represented the titular saint borne to heaven by a band of angels; and in the presbytery, the same saint baptizing the newly converted in the church of his town of Ippona. The subject is well conceived; the perspective, which the vaulting of the edifice rendered difficult, is correctly preserved; the architecture is magnificent; the expression of the figures is in unison with the august ceremony: the style participates of the Roman and Bolognese of those times. He would probably have left some works of a higher order in the cathedral, a fine church, which was intended to have been wholly decorated by him; but in consequence of demanding fifteen years for the completion of his work, he was deprived of the commission; nor was it difficult to find one to execute it quickly enough, without exciting the jealousy of Aliberti. P. della Valle found in his style a mixture of Maratta, of Gio. da S. Giovanni, and of Coreggio; heads and feet which one should attribute to Guido or Domenichino; forms peculiar to the Caracci; drapery of Paolo, colours of Guercino, a Sacrifice of Abraham, imitated from Mecherino. I had not myself time to form so many comparisons. The Abate Aliberti, his son, painted in many of the above-named cities, and, (which I have not found in the father,) in the capital. There is a Holy Family, of fine effect, painted by him in the church of the Carmine, though in the colouring it is not exempt from that greenish tinge which was then in vogue in Italy, and which still predominates in the works of some of our artists.

Francesco Antonio Cuniberti, of Savigliano, a fresco painter of some reputation in the decoration of cupolas and ceilings, worked in his native place and its neighbourhood. Pietro Gualla di Casalmonferrato also employed himself in fresco, and likewise painted in oil in many places of the state, and in the metropolis. Although he applied himself late to the study of his art, he became a portrait painter of great spirit. Nor ought he to have gone beyond this province, neither possessing a knowledge of design, nor genius equal to greater attempts. When verging on age, he assumed the habit of a friar of S. Paul, and in Milan undertook to ornament a cupola of the church of that order; but he died before he had finished his work.

Another department of the art was cultivated in a distinguished manner by Domenico Olivieri of Turin, a man born to amuse by his singular personal appearance, his lively conversation, and the humorous productions of his pencil. His cabinet pictures of spirited caricatures in the style of Laer, and other eminent Flemish artists, are well known in the collections of Piedmont. In his time the royal collection, by the death of Prince Eugene, was enriched by the addition of nearly four hundred Flemish pictures; which are still distinguishable from others by the highly finished carving and fine taste of the frames. No one profited more than Olivieri from the imitation of these works. If he had possessed the lucid clearness of their tints, he would have passed for a Flemish artist. He is happy in his subject, strong in his colours, and free in his touch. The court has two large pictures of his, crowded with figures of a span in size: one of which is a market scene, with charlatans, drawers of teeth, villagers quarrelling, and the variety of incident usually furnished by a busy assemblage of the vulgar. It might indeed, from its humour, be called a little Bernesque poem. He occasionally employed his talents in sacred subjects, as in the Miracle of the Sacrament, which he represented by a number of small figures in two pictures, which are preserved in the sacristy of the Corpus Domini. His style was inherited by one Graneri, who imitated him successfully, and died only a few years since.

The court had also a painter from Prague, of the name of Francesco Antonio Meyerle, commonly called Monsieur Meyer, who did not acquire so much fame from his larger works as from his small pictures in the Flemish style: in the latter he was indeed excellent. He was also a fine painter of portraits. The Bishop of Vercelli possesses one of an old man, scrutinizing some object or other with an eye-glass, executed with great truth and humour; and in the same city, where he spent his latter days, his works are frequently met with, and the more prized the smaller they are found in size. In landscapes and other ornamental pictures, painted in a bold Venetian style, and for distant effect, a Piedmontese, of the name of Paolo Foco, distinguished himself, who lived for a long time in Casale, where the greater number of his works are to be found. He, too, attempted figures on a larger scale, but with little success.

I have found, in the course of my reading, one Michela, whether or not of Piedmont I cannot determine, who, in the royal castle painted perspectives, ornamented with figures by Olivieri; a work executed in competition with Lucatelli, Marco Ricci, and Gian Paolo Pannini, celebrated artists of those times. For the more extensive decorations of the churches and the theatres we find two artists often employed; Dellamano, of Modena, mentioned by us in the second chapter of the Lombard Schools,[77] and Gio. Batista Crosato, of Venice, whose genius and fine taste are extolled by Sig. Zanetti. He has not, however, been able to adduce more than one public picture, in which branch, and in every other of a figurist, he was less admired than in perspective. He is one of those painters who deceive the eye by a strong relief, and he thus gives the semblance of reality to his imitations. He has left proofs of this quality in various parts of Piedmont, where he generally resided; and the works which do the most honour to his memory are at the Vigna della Regina. He conferred a benefit on the School of Piedmont, from his instruction of Bernardino Galliari, a celebrated perspective painter, particularly for the theatres, and of great fame in Milan, in Berlin, and in other places beyond the mountains. To this respected professor his scholars are indebted for their accurate taste in art. The state has also produced other painters in figures and in landscape; nor will any impartial person blame me for not having particularised every individual of them. On the contrary, I fear that several names here inserted by me, may appear to some of my readers scarcely worthy of admission. Such persons ought however to consider, that the mediocrity of the times compels the historian to notice artists of mediocrity.

The rules of the academy, introduced in Turin in 1778, have not subsisted sufficiently long to allow us to judge of their result, as I have done with regard to older establishments. They were given to the public the same year, from the royal press;[78] and do honour as well to the good taste as to the munificence of Victor Amadeus III. His august father had, indeed, already prepared a domicile for the fine arts in the halls of the university, and had founded the new academy of design, under the direction of the first painter of the court. It has since received fresh lustre from the patronage of the present king, and has been enlarged by professorships, stipends, and laws, and aids of all kinds for studious youth. Turin has, in the present day, exhibited productions in painting, such as, except in Rome, are to be found in few capitals of Italy; and in architecture, statuary, and bronze, stands almost unrivalled. I do not particularise the living artists, as they may easily be found in the New City Guide, or in the preface to volume xi. of Vasari, printed in Siena; and some of their names have become better known from the voice of public applause than from the pens of writers.

[75] Galleria del Marini, p. 288.

[76] The mediocrity of some who are extolled in Marini's work, which was published about the year 1610, appears from the silence observed towards them by contemporary writers, or the little applause with which they are named. I never elsewhere found mention, to the best of my recollection, of Lucilio Gentiloni, of Filatrava, nor of Giulio Donnabella, who there figure as eminent designers; nor of Annibale Mancini, whence I know not, a painter of histories; nor of the two equally renowned Frenchmen, M. Brandin and M. Flaminet, elsewhere transformed into Fulminetto; much less a Raffaele Rabbia, and a Giulio Maina, who painted the poet's portrait; unless, indeed, the second be the Bolognese Giulio Morina, mutilated in his name, like not a few other artists of this truly ill assorted Gallery. [This artist would rather appear to be the Giulio Mayno, of Asti, the court painter, mentioned in p. 467, ante. Ed.]

[77] See vol iv. p. 69.

[78] There is annexed to them a learned Treatise, by the Count Felice Durando di Villa, with very erudite and copious notes.

END OF VOL. V.