The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 2 (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. 2 (of 6): From the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth Century
Lanzi, Luigi
Painting -- Italy -- History
Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta, who adopted Raffaello's style, may be
enumerated among the scholars of that great man, from his felicitous
imitation of their common master. In the Sala de' Regi, in the Vatican,
he painted Pepin, King of France, bestowing Ravenna on the church, after
having made Astolfo, King of the Lombards, his prisoner. But he
approached Raffaello more closely in some of his oil pictures than in
his frescos, as in the martyrdom of S. Lucia, in the church of S. Maria
Maggiore; in the Transfiguration in Ara Coeli, and in the Nativity in
the church della Pace, a subject which he repeated in the most graceful
style in the church of Osimo. His masterpiece is in Ancona on the great
altar in the church of S. Bartolommeo, a vast composition, original and
rich in invention, and commensurate with the grandeur of the subject,
and the multitude of saints that are introduced in it. The throne of the
Virgin is seen above, amidst a brilliant choir of angels, and on either
side a virgin saint in the attitude of adoration. To this height there
is a beautiful ascent on each side, and the picture is thus divided into
a higher and lower part, in the latter of which is the titular saint, a
half naked figure vigorously coloured, together with S. Paul and two
other saints, the whole in a truly Raffaellesque style. This altarpiece
possesses so much harmony, and such a force of colour, that it is
esteemed by some persons the best picture in the city. If any thing be
wanting in it, it is perhaps a more correct observance of the
perspective. Sermoneta did not paint many pictures for collections. He
excelled in portrait painting.
A similar manner, though more laboured, and formed on the styles of
Raffaello and Andrea del Sarto, was adopted by Scipione Pulzone da
Gaeta, who was educated in the studio of Jacopino del Conte. He died
young in his thirty-eighth year, but left behind him a great reputation,
partly in the painting of portraits, of which he executed a great number
for the popes and princes of his day, and with so much success, that by
some he is called the Vandyke of the Roman School. He was a forerunner
of Seybolt in the high finishing of the hair, and in representing in the
pupil of the eye the reflexion of the windows, and other objects as
minute and exact as in real life. He also painted some pictures in the
finest style, as the Crucifixion in the Vallicella, and the Assumption
in S. Silvestro at Monte Cavallo, a composition of chaste design, great
beauty of colouring, and brilliant in effect. In the Borghese collection
is a Holy Family by him, and in the gallery in Florence, a Christ
praying in the garden; and in other places are to be found some of his
cabinet pictures, deservedly held in high esteem.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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