The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 3 (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. 3 (of 6): From the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth Century
Lanzi, Luigi
Painting -- Italy -- History
whose branches we trace, through Mantegna, in the grand school of
Lombardy; through Marco Zoppo in the Bolognese; while it extended some
degree of influence over that of Venice itself. For Jacopo Bellini,
having come to exercise his talents in Padua, it would appear that he
took Squarcione for his model, as before stated.
There is nothing remaining from the hand of Squarcione, in Padua, that
can be relied upon with certainty, except an altarpiece, formerly to be
seen at the Carmelitani, but now in possession of the accomplished Conte
Cav. de' Lazara. It is drawn in different compartments; the chief place
is occupied by the figure of San Girolamo. Around him appear other
saints; but the work is in parts re-touched, though there is sufficient
of what is original to establish the character of the painter. Rich in
colouring, in expression, and above all in perspective, it may be
declared one of the best specimens of the art produced in those parts.
The painting of the altarpiece, here alluded to, was assigned him by the
noble family of the Lazara, of which the contract is still preserved by
them, dated 1449, the salary being paid in 1452, the period at which it
was completed. The artist subscribes himself _Francesco Squarcione_,
whence we are enabled to correct the mistake of Vasari, who, invariably
unfortunate in his nomenclature of the Venetians, announces his name as
Jacopo, an error repeated also in the dictionaries of artists. Besides
this specimen, there still exist, in a cloister of San Francesco Grande,
some histories of that saint in _terra verde_, which are to be referred
to the early part of his life, there being good authority for believing
them to be by the same hand, though with the assistance of his school,
as the more and less perfect parts render sufficiently apparent. Near
them were placed some other pieces of Squarcione also in _terra verde_,
which were defaced in the time of Algarotti, who regrets their loss in
one of his elegant and pleasing letters. Their style is altogether
analogous to that of his school; animated figures, neat in the folds,
foreshortenings not usual in works of that age, and attempts, though yet
immature, at approaching towards the style of the ancient Greeks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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