Their voyage, from adverse winds and tempestuous weather, was long and
tedious; the monotony of a life at sea, and the qualms which generally
affect landsmen in such a situation, were not fitted to allay the
naturally irritable tempers of Armstrong and his companion: they at
first became dissatisfied with their situation, then with each other,
and finally quarrelled about the pronunciation of an English word;
Fuseli pertinaciously maintaining that a Swiss had as great a right to
judge of the correct pronunciation of English as a Scotsman.
After a tedious passage of twenty-eight days, the ship was driven by a
gale of wind into Genoa, where Fuseli and Armstrong parted in a mood far
from friendly. Armstrong took the direct road to Florence, where he
intended to reside. Fuseli went first to Milan; here he remained a few
days to examine the works of art, and then passed a short time at
Florence, on his way to Rome, where he arrived on the 9th of February
1770.
Shortly after he had taken up his abode in "the eternal city," he again
changed the spelling of his name; this he did to accommodate it to the
Italian pronunciation; and always afterwards signed, "_Fuseli_."
His views now were to see the stores of art, which had been collected
in, or executed at Rome; and subsequently, to examine with care each
particular specimen, for his future improvement. He did not spend his
time in measuring the proportion of the several antique statues, or in
copying the fresco or oil pictures of the great masters of modern times;
but in studying intensely the principles upon which they had worked, in
order to infuse some of their power and spirit into his own productions.
Although he paid minute attention to the works of Raphael, Correggio,
Titian, and the other great men whom Italy has produced, yet, he
considered the antique and Michael Angelo as his masters, and formed his
style upon their principles.
To augment his knowledge, he examined living models, sometimes attended
the schools of anatomy, and used the dissecting knife, in order to trace
the origin and insertion of the outer layer of muscles of the human
body. But he was always averse to dissecting, believing the current
story, that his idol, Michael Angelo, had nearly lost his life from a
fever got by an anatomical examination of a human body in a state of
putrefaction.
By such well-directed studies, and by great exertion, his improvement
was rapid, and he soon acquired a boldness and grandeur of drawing
which surprised the Italian artists, one of whom was so struck with some
of his compositions, that, in reference to their invention, he
immediately exclaimed, "Michael Angelo has come again!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account