The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 1 (of 6): From the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth CenturyLanzi, Luigi
History
The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 1 (of 6): From the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth Century
Lanzi, Luigi
Painting -- Italy -- History
he conducted himself with more propriety, and adhered more to fixed
principles, the genius he possessed might have raised him to more
celebrity. He visited the best schools of Italy, and copied on the spot,
or at least designed, the choicest productions of each. Many praise some
of his copies of Tiziano, of Correggio, and of Paolo Veronese: from the
works of the two last he likewise made etchings. Notwithstanding such
studies his colouring degenerated, and he became so much a mannerist,
that he has not left behind him a truly classical work. The S. Lorenzo
in the church of S. Simone, which is reckoned the masterpiece of Vanni,
has nothing uncommon, except it be that the light of the fire invests
the spectators, and gives the picture novelty and surprising harmony.
Jacopo da Empoli, a scholar of Friano, retains in most of his works the
stamp of his early education; but he adopted a second manner which is
not deficient in fulness of design, nor in elegance of colouring. Such
is his S. Ivo, which, among painters of great name in a cabinet of the
ducal gallery, surprises most strangers more than the other pictures. He
executed other works on similar principles, from which we might infer
that he belongs to an era favourable to the art. Painters cannot, like
authors, amend the first on a second edition of the same subject: their
second editions, by which they should be judged, pass as other pictures
superior to their first performances. Two of Jacopo's pictures in fresco
are commended by Moreni (tom. ii. p. 113), one belonging to the Certosa,
the other to the monastery of Boldrone; both which prove the extent of
his ability in this branch of the art; but after the period of his fall
from the scaffolding in the Certosa, he abandoned this method and
devoted himself wholly to painting in oil. Empoli gave all the beauty
and fine effect of large works to those pleasing pictures he painted for
private individuals, and in this style he was very successful.
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