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
Dolci holds the same rank in the Florentine, that Sassoferrato holds in
the Roman school. Both, though destitute of great powers of invention,
obtained great reputation for Madonnas and similar small subjects, which
have now become extremely valuable; for the wealthy, desirous of
possessing pictures, at once estimable and religious, to hang up in
their oratories, have brought those two masters into great request,
notwithstanding that they operated on very different principles. Carlo
is not so celebrated for beauty, (for he was like his master, a mere
_naturalist_,) as for the exquisite pains with which he finished every
thing, and the genuine expression of certain affecting emotions; such as
the patient suffering of Christ, or of the Virgin Mary; the penitential
compunction of a Saint, or the holy confidence of a Martyr devoting
himself as a victim for the living God. The colouring and general tone
of his pictures accord with the idea of the passion; nothing is turgid
or bold; all is modesty, repose, and placid harmony. In him we may
retrace the manner of Rosselli brought to perfection, as we sometimes
can view the features of the grandsire in his descendants. A few of his
larger works still remain, such as the S. Antonio, in the royal museum;
the Conception of our Lady, in the possession of the Marquis Rinuccini;
also a very few of his subjects from profane story, a few of his
portraits, and the celebrated figure of Poetry in the palace of Prince
Corsini. His small pictures, for each of which he usually received 100
crowns, are very numerous; and were frequently repeated by himself or by
his pupils, Alessandro Lomi and Bartolommeo Mancini; and often by Agnese
Dolci, his daughter, a good artist and follower of the style of her
father; but not his equal. His two Madonnas in the cabinet of the Grand
Duke, and his martyrdom of S. Andrew, in the possession of the Marquis
Gerini, have been often copied.
Of Onorio Marinari, the cousin and scholar of Carlo, but few pictures
remain at Florence, either in private or in public. After imitating his
master, (which usually is the first exercise of students in the art, and
often, from dissimilarity of genius, is their great bane,) he formed
another style, by yielding to the bent of his natural powers; which was
more grand, had more of the ideal, and deeper shadows; and of this
several specimens remain in the churches of S. Maria Maggiore, and S.
Simone. This artist died young, very unfortunately for the school to
which he belonged.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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