Another, less pompous, but more effectual follower of Michael Angiolo,
was Marco da Pino, or Marco da Siena: the date[115] of his arrival at
Naples ought probably to be placed after 1560. He was well received,
presented with the freedom of the city, and deserved the courtesy by the
amenity of his manners and sincerity of character. With the reputation
of the first artist, Marco was employed in the most conspicuous churches
of the city and the state. Though he sometimes repeated his inventions,
he approached Michael Angiolo nearer than any other Tuscan, because he
affected less to do it. His forms are appealed to by Lomazzo as
instances of just proportion, and, in keeping and aërial perspective, he
is ranked with Lionardo and Robusti. As his design is less charged, so
is his colour more vigorous and glowing than the usual tinge of the
Tuscan School: sometimes, however, he is unequal, trusts to practice,
and deviates into manner. He was an able architect, and of the good
writers on that art.
Of many pupils reared in his school, none was comparable to Gio. Angiolo
Criscuolo, brother of G. Filippo. Though bred a notary, he had practised
miniature from his youth; emulation with his brother prompted him to
attempt larger proportions; and, under the tuition of Marco, he became a
good imitator of his style.[116]
To dwell circumstantially on the crowd of artists that fill the
biographic pages of this period, humiliating as mere nomenclature may
appear, is below the dignity of an art, which, like poetry, admits not
of mediocrity. Reputation during life, the partiality of friends and
countrymen, some single work which escaped to excellence from the
insignificant productions of a long career, are but equivocal claims on
the homage of posterity: and more legitimate ones in oil or fresco, have
neither Silvestro Bruno, Simone del Papa, the younger Amato, Mazzolini,
Cola dell' Amatrice, Pompeo dell' Aquila, Giuseppe Valeriani, Marco
Mazzaroppi, Gio. Pietro Russo, Pietro Negrone of Calabria, nor the
Sicilian Gio. Borghese. Pirro Ligorio, the favourite architect of Pio
IV. in Rome, and the engineer of Alphonso II. at Ferrara, owes the
preservation of his name more to his Augean collections of antiquarian
lumber and the intrigues by which he perplexed the last years of M.
Angiolo, than to the flimsy exertions of his pencil.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account