Venetian Painted Ceilings of the Renaissance [Reprint 2020 ed.] 9780520322196

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C A L I F O R N I A STUDIES IN THE H I S T O R Y OF A R T W A L T E R H O R N , General Editor Advisory Board: H. W. Jansott, Bates Lowry, Wolfgang Stechow

I

The Birth of Landscape Painting in China BY MICHAEL

II

SULLIVAN

Portraits by Degas BY J E A N SUTHERLAND

III

Leonardo da Vinci on Painting: A Lost Book (Libro A) BY CARLO

IV

BOGGS

PEDRETTI

Images in the Margins of Gothic Manuscripts BY LILIAN M. C. R A N D A L L

V

The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans BY J O H N

VI

ROSENFIELD

A Century of Dutch Manuscript Illumination BY L. M. J . DÉLAISSÉ

VII

George Caleb Bingham: The Evolution of an Artist and A Catalogue Raisonné TWO VOLUMES BY E. M A U R I C E

VIII

BLOCH

Claude Lorrain: The Drawings—Catalog and Illustrations TWO VOLUMES BY MARCEL

IX

Venetian Painted Ceilings of the Renaissance BY JUERGEN

X

ROETHLISBERGER

SCHULZ

The Drawings of Edouard Manet BY A L A I N DE LEIRIS

VENETIAN PAINTED OF T H E

CEILINGS

RENAISSANCE

VENETIAN PAINTED

CEILINGS

OF THE

RENAISSANCE Juergen Schulz

UNIVERSITY

OF C A L I F O R N I A

Berkeley and Los Angeles

1968

PRESS

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

London, England Copyright © 1968, by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-63005 VENETIAN PAINTED CEILINGS OF THE RENAISSANCE

is a volume in the California Studies in the History of Art sponsored in part by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Designed by Adrian Wilson Printed in the United States of America

For Christoph, Ursula, and Catherine

PRE FACE

It is only recently that students o f modern art have begun to notice decorative systems. In the nineteenth century the little pictures set into Pompeiian mural decorations were often cut out b y their excavators, framed, and sent to museums for exhibition. T h e treatment expressed an attitude and taste that did not notice a picture's context, but fastened on its representational values alone. T h e practice has ceased, and archaeologists and historians o f ancient art have learned to look at the picture fields in ancient mural and vault decorations as parts o f larger wholes. But in the field o f Renaissance and Baroque art, something o f this approach persisted until very recently, and there were still scholars w h o examined and categorized the parts o f larger decorative systems as if they were independent works. T o be sure, a tradition o f studies o f the decorative system o f the Sistine Ceiling has existed since Wolfflin's day. A n d H. Posse analyzed the schemes o f Baroque ceiling painting in a brilliant article on Pietro da Cortona's Palazzo Barberini vault, written as long ago as 1919. But only since the Second W o r l d W a r has the study o f mural and ceiling decoration become sufficiently common to bring about a general recognition that they have requirements and histories o f their own. Significantly, the most active field o f research has been the Renaissance revival of ancient R o m a n decorative systems, which has been the subject o f important studies by I. Bergstrom, A . F. Blunt, and others The present book seeks to sketch the history o f one particular type o f decoration, the Venetian painted ceiling o f the Renaissance, or sojfitto veneziano. A l l three o f the great trio o f Venetian Renaissance painters—Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese—painted pictures for these ceilings. For the most part they are well-known works and have often been written vii

Preface about. B u t here especially it is true that the previous literature has dealt w i t h them always as simple paintings and not as paintings destined for a particular kind o f setting and thus raising particular kinds o f aesthetic problems. O n this count alone it should be w o r t h w h i l e to study Venetian ceilings as a type, because o f the light that m a y be shed on the w o r k s o f great artists. There are strictly philological considerations w h i c h make such a study desirable as well. O n the one hand, the soffitto veneziano became extremely popular outside Venice and influenced ceiling painting in other schools and epochs, giving it added historical importance and a claim to fuller treatment than it has ever received. O n the other hand, a great number o f Venetian ceilings have been dismembered and their paintings dispersed. Clearly, w i t h o u t an effort to reconstruct the original decoration, the membra disjecta cannot be fully appreciated. This is most easily done in the context o f a monographic treatment o f soffitti as a class. Because o f the quantity and special nature o f the topographical and historical evidence that must be considered to establish the history and appearance o f the larger ceilings, I have thought it best to collect all this matter together at the end o f the book. T h e v o l u m e is accordingly divided into an Introduction that gives an account o f the history o f Venetian ceilings and ceiling painting, and a Catalogue that summarizes the history o f individual soffitti. In one b o o k I cannot hope to exhaust all aspects o f a subject that cuts through the richest century in Venetian art, history, and culture. M y o w n limitations set limits to the tindertaking right f r o m the start. M a n y o f the ceilings, for instance, are decorated w i t h difficult allegorical cycles w h i c h it has not been possible for m e to unravel. B e y o n d some occasional suggestions I have had to leave their exegesis to someone more skilled in iconographical studies than myself. I can only hope to have made his task easier b y collecting the material. T h e lack o f important ceilings on the Venetian mainland, furthermore, suggested confining the account to the city o f Venice. Ceilings on the terraferma are mentioned wherever appropriate, but the Catalogue lists those o f metropolitan Venice alone. B y metropolitan Venice I mean the city and the surrounding islands o f the Lagoon. M y interest in Venetian Renaissance ceilings was roused b y the Titian lectures o f Johannes W i l d e w h e n I was a student at the Courtauld Institute o f A r t , London. T h e first version o f this b o o k was written under his supervision as a doctoral thesis, presented at the University o f L o n d o n in 1958.1 a m indebted to h i m for many ideas—which I have tried to acknowledge each in their place—and more important, for the contact w i t h a truly distinguished mind w h i c h has been an inspiration to me ever since. I am m o r e grateful to h i m than I k n o w h o w to express.

viii

Preface Many persons have given me assistance in more specific ways, and I should like to thank them as well. I owe some of my information and many photographs to the kind offices of: Mme. Sylvie Béguin, Musée du Louvre, Paris ; Dr. Alessandro Bettagno, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice; Dr. Jan Bialostocki, National Museum, Warsaw; Oliver Millar, Esq., Office of the Lord Chamberlain, London; Dr. Michelangelo Muraro, Soprintendenza alle Gallerie, Venice; Dr. Peter Murray, Courtauld Institute of Art, London; Mr. Ernest Nash, Fototeca di Architettura e Topografia dell'Italia Antica, Rome; Dr. Giovarmi Paccagnini, Soprintendenza alle Gallerie, Mantua; Dr. Terisio Pignatti, Direzione dei Musei Civici Veneziani, Venice; Mr. Michael Rinehart, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass; Count Antoine Seilern, London; Dr. Francesco Valcanover, Soprintendenza alle Gallerie, Venice; and Mr. Wolfgang Wolters, Kunsthistorisches Institut, Florence. Mrs. Margaret Uridge and her staff in the Library of the University of California were endlessly resourceful in finding the obscure topographical works that were required for the compilation of the catalogue. Mr. Rudolf Saenger prepared the technical drawings. The final manuscript was read by Sir Anthony Blunt and Dr. John Shearman, whose comments were extremely valuable and have been embodied in revisions that are acknowledged wherever they occur. Completion of the book would not have been possible without the generous support of several institutions that underwrote the purchase of photographs and the expense of travel and maintenance for myself. I am most grateful to the Central Research Fund of the University of London and the Committee on Research of the University of California for the former, and to the American Council of Learned Societies and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for the latter. Berkeley, December 1967

ix

CONTENTS

LIST OF I L L U S T R A T I O N S

xv

INTRODUCTION CATALOGUE

3 61

Abbreviations Churches and Monasteries

(Cat. Nos. 1-22)

63

(23-30)

81

Confraternities Public Buildings

(31-45)

92

Private Buildings

(46-54)

117

Provenance Unknown

(55-66)

124

Lost: Churches and Monasteries

(67-81)

130

(82-87)

136

Public Buildings

(88-91)

139

Private Buildings

(92-93)

142

Confraternities

PLATES

147

INDEX

237

XI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures in the Text and Catalogue

Following page 16 of the text 1 Giuliano da Sangallo, sacristy vestibule, designed 1493. Florence, Santo Spirito. Photo Alinari. 2 Sodoma and Raphael, frescoed vault, 1508-1509. Rome, Palazzo Vaticano, Stanza della Segnatura. Photo Anderson. 3 Pinturicchio (workshop), frescoed vault, 1494. Rome, Palazzo Vaticano, Appartamento Borgia, Sala delle Sibille. Photo Anderson. 4 Cubiculum from the villa of Fannio Senestor, Boscoreale, southeast corner, ca. 40-30 B.C. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo Metropolitan Museum. 5 School of Andrea Mantegna, vault decoration, ca. 1487. Destroyed; formerly Mantua, San Francesco. Photo Calzolari. 6 Andrea Mantegna, mural decoration (The Marquis Lodovico Gonzaga with his Family and Court), completed 1474. Mantua, Castello, Camera degli Sposi. Photo Alinari. 7 Andrea Mantegna, vault decoration, before 1474. Mantua, Castello, Camera degli Sposi. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie, Mantua. 8 Coffered vault with apotheosis of the Divus Titus, after A.D. 81 Rome, Arch of Titus. Photo Fototeca Unione, Rome. 9 Coffered ceiling, before 1451. Florence, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. Photo Wolfgang Wolters. 10 Coffered ceiling, ca. 1496. Venice, Accademia, Gallery X X I V (formerly Albergo of the Scuola della Carità). Photo Accademia. 1 1 Coffered ceiling, detail. Venice, Accademia, Gallery X X I V . Photo Anderson. 12 Guariento, The Choir of Thrones, ca. 1345, from the chapel of the Carrara Palace, Padua. Padua, Museo Civico. Photo Museo Civico. 13 Giovanni Bellini, The Assassination of St. Peter Martyr, ca. 1509. London, National Gallery. Photo National Gallery. 14 Titian, The Assassination of St. Peter Martyr, 1525-1530. Destroyed; formerly Venice, Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Engraving from V. Lefevre, Opera selectiora quae Titianus Vecellius... et Paulus Calliari... inventarmi . . . , Venice, 1682 (reproduced in the direction of the original painting). xv

List of Illustrations 15 Jacopo Sansovino, St. Mark Drawn Through the Streets of Alexandria, 1537. Venice, San Marco. Photo Alinari. 16 Bonifazio Veronese, The Massacre of the Innocents, ca. 1540. Venice, Accademia. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 17 Giulio Romano and assistants, Episodes from the Trojan War, 1538. Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, Sala di Troia. Photo Calzolari. 18 Sala di Troia, detail, A Fallen Warrior. Photo Alinari. 19 Sala di Troia, detail, Ceranos Draggedfrom the Chariot of Meriones. Photo Alinari. 20 Pordenone, David and Goliath, ca. 1532. Venice, Santo Stefano. Engraving by Jacopo Picino. Photo Museo Correr. 21 Sebastiano Serlio, coffered ceiling, before 1531. Formerly Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Sala della Libreria. Woodcut from Serlio, Regoli generali di architettura ..., Venice, 1537. 22 Michelangelo, Medici Madonna, 1524-1532. Florence, San Lorenzo, Sagrestia Nuova. Photo Alinari. 23 Tintoretto, Sacra Conversazione, 1540. New York, Private Collection. 24 Giulio Romano and assistants, vault decoration ( The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche and other episodes from their tale), 1528. Mantua, Palazzo del Te, Sala di Psiche. Photo Calzolari. 25 Pierino da Vinci, The Restoration of Pisa by Cosimo I, after 1549. Rome, Museo Vaticano. Photo Alinari.

Following page 48 of the text

26 Palma Giovane, Christ in Glory, ca. 1599. Destroyed; formerly Vicenza, Oratorio del Gonfalone. Photo Fiorentini. 27 Cornells Cort, The Cyclops at Their Forge, 1572. Copy of the octagonal ceiling painting by Titian formerly at Brescia, Palazzo Comunale. Photo British Museum. 28 Cesare Vecellio, The Marriage of the Virgin, 1577-1578. Lentiai, Santa Maria Assunta. Photo A.F.I. 29 Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, Salone dei Cinquecento, view. Paintings by Giorgio Vasari and assistants, 1563-1565. Photo Brogi. 30 Giuseppe Cesari, The Ascension of Christ, ca. 1592. Rome, San Prassede, Cappella Olgiati. Photo Alinari. 31 Naples, San Pietro a Maiella, ceiling of the nave with scenes from the life of St. Celestine by Mattia Preti, 1656-1661. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie, Naples. 32 Pietro da Cortona, The Triumph of Providence, 1633-1639. Rome, Palazzo Barberini. Photo Anderson. xvi

List of Illustrations 33 Matthias Kager, Peter Candid, and others, ceiling of the Golden R o o m , 1619-1621. Destroyed; formerly Augsburg, Town Hall. Photo Deutscher Kunstverlag. 34 Peter Paul Rubens, The Annunciation, 1620 (sketch of a projected painting for the Jesuit Church in Antwerp). Vienna, Akademie der Bildenden Kiinste. Photo Akademie. 35 Peter Paul Rubens, The Sacrifice of Abraham, 1620 (sketch for one of the paintings of the Jesuit Church in Antwerp). Paris, Louvre. Photo Archives Photographiques. 36 London, Banqueting House, view of ceiling. Paintings by Rubens, completed 1634. Photo Ministry of Works. 37 Peter Paul Rubens, The Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland, completed 1634. London, Banqueting House. Photo Ministry of Works. 38 Nicolas Poussin, Time Rescuing Truth, 1641. Paris, Louvre. Photo Archives Photographiques. 39 Bernardo Strozzi, The Parable of the Uninvited Wedding Guest, after 1636 (sketch for the ceiling painting formerly at the Incurabili, Venice). Genoa, Accademia Ligustica. Photo Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale. 40 Alessandro Varottari (il Padovanino), The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, after 1636, from the Incurabili. Venice, Accademia. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 41 Camillo Ballini, Venice Crowned by Glory, early seventeenth century. Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Andito della Sala dello Scrutinio. Photo Fiorentini. 42 Venice, Palazzo Pesaro, salotto on the piano nobile, view of ceiling. Paintings by Nicolò Bambini, 1682. Photo Fiorentini. 43 Scuola di San Fantin (Ateneo Veneto), Albergo Nuovo, view of ceiling. Painting by Antonio Zanchi, 1674. Photo Museo Correr. 44 Sebastiano Ricci, Allegory of Science, ca. 1710. Venice, Seminario Patriarcale, Library. Photo Bòhm. 45 Sebastiano Ricci, The Miraculous Transport of the Image of the Virgin, ca. 1700-1705. Venice, San Marciliano. Photo A.F.I. 46 Antonio Zanchi, The Burning of Heretical Books, 1705. Venice, Seminario Patriarcale, Library. Photo Bòhm. 47 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Apotheosis of Spain, 1762-1764, detail. Madrid. Palacio Nacional, Throne Room. Photo Instituto Fotografico de Arte Español. Following page 80 of the catalogue 48 Santa Maria della Visitazione, view of ceiling. Paintings by Pietro Paolo Agapiti, ca. 1524. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. xvii

List of Illustrations 49

50 51 52 53 54 55 56

Nicolò Rondinelli, Virgin and Child on Clouds, before 1495. Santa Maria della Salute, Sagrestia Maggiore; from Murano, Santa Maria degli Angeli. Photo Anderson. Nicolò Rondinelli, An Adoring Angel, before 1495, from Murano, Santa Maria degli Angeli. Murano, San Pietro Martire. Photo Fiorentini. Alvise Vivarini, God the Father Blessing, after 1495, from the Scuola di San Girolamo. Venice, Accademia. Photo Accademia. Titian, St. Matthew, 1542-1544, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Santa Maria della Salute, Sagrestia Maggiore. Photo Fiorentini. Titian, St. John the Evangelist, 1542-1544, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Santa Maria della Salute, Sagrestia Maggiore. Photo Fiorentini. Assistant of Veronese, Balustrade with Garland-Bearing Putti, 1556, detail. San Sebastiano. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. Assistant of Veronese, Balustrade with Garland-Bearing Putti, 1556. San Sebastiano. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. Assistant of Veronese, Balustrade with Masks, 1556. San Sebastiano. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

57

Veronese, Peace, ca. 1553-1555, from an unidentified ceiling. Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina. Photo Fiorentini. (Reproduced in the original format.) 58 Veronese, An Allegory, ca. 1553—1555, from an unidentified ceiling. Rome, Pinacoteca Vaticana. Photo Musei Vaticani.

59 Veronese, Hope, ca. 1553—1555, from an unidentified ceiling. Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina. Photo Fiorentini. (Reproduced in the original format.) 60 Veronese, Putti with a Tambourine and Swallow, ca. 1556-1560, from Palazzo Pisani a Santo Stefano. Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo Staatliche Museen. 61

Veronese, Putti with Apples, Iris, Grapes, and Grain, ca. 1556-1560, from Palazzo Pisani a Santo Stefano. Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo Staatliche Museen.

62

Veronese, Putti with a Fish and Dove, ca. 1556-1560, from Palazzo Pisani a Santo Stefano. Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo Staatliche Museen. 63 Veronese, Putti with a Scepter and Laurel Crown, ca. 1556-1560, from Palazzo Pisani a Santo Stefano. Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo Staatliche Museen. 64 Veronese, Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, and Cybele, ca. 1556-1560, from Palazzo Pisani a Santo Stefano. Destroyed; formerly Berlin, Kaiser Friedrich Museum. Photo Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. 65 Giuseppe Salviati, Elijah Fed by the Angel, ca. 1550, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Santa Maria della Salute, sanctuary. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. xviii

List of Illustrations 66 Giuseppe Salviati, The Gathering of the Manna, ca. 1550, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Santa Maria della Salute, sanctuary. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 67 Giuseppe Salviati, Hahakkuk Brought to Daniel, ca. 1550, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Santa Maria della Salute, sanctuary. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 68 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Cupid Receiving the Apple from the Graces, ca. 1551, from an unidentified ceiling. London, Lancaster House. Photo Ministry of Works. 69 Damiano Mazza, St. Mark, ca. 1573, from the Scuola dei Sarti. Gallerie dell'Accademia. Photo Museo Correr. 70 Damiano Mazza, St. Matthew, ca. 1573, from the Scuola dei Sarti. Gallerie dell'Accademia. Photo Museo Correr. 71 Veronese (after), Ceres Before Venice, Peace, and Hercules, ca. 1570. Copy by Anthony van Dyck. London, British Museum. Photo British Museum. 72 Veronese (after), Hercules and Neptune Before Venice, ca. 1575. Anonymous copy. Budapest, Musée des Beaux Arts. Photo Musée des Beaux Arts. 73 Palma Giovane, Adam and Eve, ca. 1582, from Scuola di San Fantin, Albergo. Whereabouts unknown. Photo source unknown. 74 Palma Giovane, The Four Evangelists and the Eucharist, ca. 1575. San Giacomo dall'Orio, Sagrestia Vecchia. Photo Böhm. 75 Lodovico Pozzoserrato, Jacob's Dream of the Heavenly Ladder, ca. 1590. Palazzo Loredan. Photo Museo Correr. 76 Lodovico Pozzoserrato, The Fall of Man, ca. 1590. Palazzo Loredan. Photo Museo Correr. 77 Lodovico Pozzoserrato, The Sacrifice of Isaac, ca. 1590. Palazzo Loredan. Photo Museo Correr. 78 Lodovico Pozzoserrato, God Appearing to Moses, ca. 1590. Palazzo Loredan. Photo Museo Correr. 79 Paolo dei Franceschi, An Allegory of the Mortality of Earthly Things, ca. 1590, from an unidentified ceiling. Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe. Photo Muzeum Narodowe. 80 Marco Vecellio, The Virgin and Sts. Dominic and Francis Interceding Before Christ the Judge, ca. 1595. Santi Giovanni e Paolo, sacristy. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 81 Titian, The Sacrifice of Abraham, study, ca. 1542, for Santo Spirito in Isola. Paris, Ecole des Beaux Arts. Photo Giraudon. 82 Tintoretto, Faith, study, 1576, for the Retrostanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Dieci. Schloss Fachsenfeld bei Aalen, Württemberg. Photo W . R . Deusch. 83 Tintoretto, The Fall of Man, study, 1577, for the Scuola di San Rocco, Sala Superiore. Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beunigen. Photo Museum Boymans-van Beunigen.

xix

List of Illustrations 84 Veronese, The Repulse of the Turkish Attack on Scutari, study, ca. 1579, for Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Oxford, Ashmolean Museum. Photo Ashmolean Museum. 85 Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense), Carlo Zeno Routs the French Fleet, study, ca. 1579, for Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Milan, Tito Rasini. Photo: Disegni antichi... dalla collezione Rasini, Milan, 1930, pi. X X I . 86 Palma Giovane, St. Gregory, study, ca. 1600, for Scuola di San Fantin, Sala Terrena. N e w York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo Metropolitan Museum. 87 Cristoforo Sorte, design for a ceiling, 1578, for Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Senato. London, Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo Victoria and Albert Museum. 88 Veronese, The Apotheosis of Venice, modello, ca. 1579, for Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Harewood Park, Yorks., Earl of Harewood. Photo Fiorentini. 89 Palma Giovane, Venice Enthroned Above Her Conquered Provinces, study, ca. 1579, for Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. London, C . R . Rudolf. Photo Courtauld Institute of Art. 90 Palma Giovane, Venice Enthroned Above Her Conquered Provinces, study, ca. 1579, for Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Milan, Tito Rasini. Photo: Disegni antichi... dalla collezione Rasini, Milan, 1930, pi. X X X V I I .

Plans

A B C D E F G H

San Sebastiano, nave. Plan of ceiling. Scuola di San Rocco, Sala Superiore. Plan of ceiling. Libreria di San Marco, reading room. Plan of ceiling. Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Plan of ceiling. Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Collegio. Plan of ceiling. Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Plan of ceiling. Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Senato. Plan of ceiling. Palazzo Ducale, Sala dello Scrutinio. Plan of ceiling.

xxi

76 88 93 97 105 107 112 114

Plates

1 Santa Maria degli Angeli (Murano), view of ceiling. Paintings by Nicolò Rondinelli, before 1495. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 2 Nicolò Rondinelli, The Coronation of the Virgin, Doctors of the Church, and Evangelist Symbols. Santa Maria degli Angeli, Murano. Photo Fiorentini. 3 Pier Maria Pennacchi and assistants, Malachi, Elijah, Elisha, Nahum, Solomon, and Zadok. Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Photo Alinari. 4 Santa Maria dei Miracoli, view of interior. Ceiling paintings by Pier Maria Pennacchi and assistants, before 1515. Photo Anderson. 5 Scuola di San Francesco (formerly), ceiling of Stanza Terrena. Paintings by Pordenone, ca. 1532. Photos Budapest, Musée des Beaux Arts, and London, National Gallery. 6 Palazzo Corner-Spinelli (formerly), ceiling of an unidentified room. Paintings by Giorgio Vasari, 1542. Photos Fiorentini, Cooper, and Kunsthaus Lempertz. 7 Pordenone, St. Luke, from the Scuola di San Francesco. Budapest, Musée des Beaux Arts. Photo Musée des Beaux Arts. 8 Giorgio Vasari, Faith, from Palazzo Corner-Spinelli. Whereabouts unknown. Photo Kunsthaus Lempertz. 9 Tintoretto, Athena and Arachne, from an unidentified ceiling, ca. 1545. Florence, Count. A. A. Contini Bonacossi. Photo Rodolfo Reali. 10 Tintoretto, Apollo and Marsyas, from the house of Pietro Aretino, 1545. Hartford, Conn., Wadsworth Atheneum. Photo Wadsworth Atheneum. 11 Santo Spirito in Isola (formerly), ceiling. Paintings by Titian, 1542-1544. Photos Fiorentini. 12 Titian, Cain and Abel, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Venice, Santa Maria della Salute, Sagrestia Maggiore. Photo Fiorentini. 13 Titian, The Sacrifice of Abraham, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Venice, Santa Maria della Salute, Sagrestia Maggiore. Photo Fiorentini. 14 Titian, The Victory of David, from Santo Spirito in Isola. Venice, Santa Maria della Salute, Sagrestia Maggiore. Photo Fiorentini. xxii

List of Illustrations 15 Titian, The Sacrifice ofAbraham, detail. Photo Fiorentini. 16 Titian, The Vision of St. John on Patmos, from the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista. Washington, National Gallery, Kress Collection. Photo National Gallery. 17

Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, Albergo Nuovo (formerly), ceiling. Paintings by Titian and assistants, ca. 1544-1547. Photos Washington, National Gallery; Venice, Soprintendenza alle Gallerie; and Fiorentini.

18 Studio of Bonifazio Veronese, An Allegory of Night, from the Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza, ca. 1554. Sarasota, Fla., J . and M . Ringling Museum. Photo Ringling Museum. 19 Studio of Bonifazio Veronese, An Allegory of Harvest, from the Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza, ca. 1554. Sarasota, Fla., J . and M . Ringling Museum. Photo Ringling Museum. 20 Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci, view. Ceiling paintings by Veronese, Giovanni Battista Zelotti, and Giovanni Battista Ponchino, ca. 15 53-15 54. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 21

Veronese, Jove Expelling Crimes and Vices, from the Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Paris, Louvre. Photo Alinari.

22 Veronese, Juno Showering Riches over Venice, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Fiorentini. 23 Veronese, "Youth and Age," Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Anderson. 24 Veronese, Liberty Beneath the Heaven of Mercury, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 25 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Venice Between Neptune and Mars, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 26 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Venice Seated on the Globe, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 27 Giovanni Battista Ponchino, Mercury and Peace, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 28 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Candia, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 29 Veronese, "Cyprus,"

Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del

Palazzo Ducale. 30 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Male Nude, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 31

Veronese, Male Nude, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale.

32 Palazzo Ducale, Sala della Bussola, view. Ceiling paintings by Veronese, ca. 1554. Photo Alinari. 33 Veronese, Fama, Sala della Bussola. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 34 Veronese, Fama, Sala della Bussola. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. x x i II

List of Illustrations 35 Veronese, Scenes of War, Sala della Bussola. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 36 Veronese, St. Mark Crowning the Theological Virtues, from the Sala della Bussola. Paris, Louvre. Photo Alinari. 37 Veronese, Triumphal Procession, Sala della Bussola. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 38 Palazzo Ducale, Stanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Dieci, view. Ceiling paintings by Veronese, Zelotti, and Ponchino, ca. 1554. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 39 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Time, Truth, and Innocence Rescued from Envious Attacks by the Expulsion of Evil, Stanza dei Tre Capi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 40 Veronese, An Allegory of Victory, Stanza dei Tre Capi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 41 Veronese, An Allegory ofNemesis, Stanza dei Tre Capi. Photo Fiorentini. 42 Giovanni Battista Ponchino, An Allegory ofJustice, Stanza dei Tre Capi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 43 San Sebastiano, sacristy, view of ceiling. Paintings by Veronese, 1555. Photo Soprintendenza ai Monumenti. 44 Veronese, St. Matthew, San Sebastiano, sacristy. Photo Alinari. 45 Veronese, The Coronation of the Virgin, San Sebastiano, sacristy. Photo Alinari. 46 Veronese, St. Mark, San Sebastiano, sacristy. Photo Alinari. 47 San Sebastiano, view of ceiling (before cleaning). Paintings by Veronese and assistants, 1556. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 48 San Sebastiano, ceiling, detail (after cleaning). Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 49 Veronese, Esther Led to Ahasuerus, San Sebastiano. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 50 Veronese, Esther Crowned by Ahasuerus, San Sebastiano. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 51 Veronese, The Triumph of Mordecai, San Sebastiano. Photo Anderson. 52 Veronese, Esther Crowned by Ahasuerus, detail. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 53 Veronese, The Triumph of Mordecai, detail. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 54 Libreria di San Marco, reading room, view. Ceiling paintings by Giuseppe Salviati, Andrea Schiavone, Veronese, Giovanni Battista Zelotti, and others, 1556-1557. Photo Bòhm. 55 Libreria di San Marco, reading room, ceiling, detail. Painting of The Theological Virtues and the Gods by Giovanni Fratino (De Mio). Photo Alinari. xxiv

List of Illustrations 56 Giuseppe Salviati, Mercury and Pluto with the Arts, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Böhm. 57 Giuseppe Salviati, Pallas and Prudence Between Fortune and Fortitude, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Böhm. 58 Battista Franco, Diana andActaeon, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Böhm. 59 Giulio Licinio, Glory and Beatitude, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Böhm. 60 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, An Allegory of Study (The Choice Between Study and Distraction), Libreria di San Marco. Photo Fiorentini. 61 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, An Allegory of Modesty, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Fiorentini. 62 Veronese, An Allegory of Honor, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Fiorentini. 63 Veronese, An Allegory of Geometry and Arithmetic, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Fiorentini. 64 Veronese, An Allegory of Music, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Fiorentini. 65 Andrea Schiavone, The Principale, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 66 Andrea Schiavone, The Priesthood, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Böhm. 67 Andrea Schiavone, The Military Estate, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Böhm. 68 Santa Maria dell'Umiltà (formerly), ceiling. Paintings by Veronese, before 1566. Photos Fiorentini and Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale. 69 Veronese, The Annunciation, from Santa Maria dell'Umiltà. Venice, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Cappella del Rosario. Photo Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale. 70 Veronese, The Annunciation, detail. Photo Fiorentini. 71 Veronese, The Assumption of the Virgin, detail. Photo Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale. 72 Veronese, Ceres Before Venice, Peace, and Hercules, from the Magistrato alle Biade, ca. 1570. Venice, Gallerie dell'Accademia. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 73 Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Collegio, ceiling. Paintings by Veronese, 1576-1578. Photo Alinari. 74 Veronese, Mars and Neptune, Sala del Collegio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 75 Veronese, Justice and Peace Before Venice Enthroned on the Globe, Sala del Collegio. Photo Anderson. 76 Veronese, Purity, Sala del Collegio. Photo Anderson. 77 Veronese, Industry, Sala del Collegio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 78 Libreria di San Marco, vestibule, view of ceiling. Murals by Cristoforo and Stefano Rosa, painting by Titian, 1559-after 1560. Photo Böhm. xxv

List of Illustrations 79 Titian, An Allegory of Wisdom, Libreria di San Marco. Photo Fiorentini. 80 Tintoretto, An Allegory of Dreams, from Casa Barbo, ca. 1556. Detroit, Institute of Arts. Photo Institute of Arts. 81 Palazzo Ducale, Salotto Quadrato (Atrio), detail of ceiling. Paintings by Tintoretto, 1562 or after. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 82 Tintoretto, Doge Girolamo Priuli with Peace, Justice, and St. Jerome, Salotto Quadrato. Photo Anderson. 83 Studio of Tintoretto, The Judgment of Solomon, Salotto Quadrato. Photo Bohm. 84 Scuola di San Rocco, Albergo, view of ceiling. Paintings by Tintoretto, 1564-1565. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 85 Tintoretto, The Apotheosis of St. Roch, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 86 Tintoretto, Faith, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 87 Tintoretto, The Virgin of Mercy, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 88 Tintoretto, Liberality, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 89 Palazzo Ducale, Retrostanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Dieci (Sala degli Inquisitori di Stato), view. Ceiling paintings by Tintoretto, 1575-1576. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 90 Tintoretto, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Retrostanza dei Tre Capi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 91 Tintoretto, Faith, Retrostanza dei Tre Capi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. (Reproduced in the original format.) 92 Scuola di San Rocco, Sala Superiore, view. Ceiling paintings by Tintoretto, 1575-1578. Photo Ferruzzi. 93 Scuola di San Rocco, Sala Superiore, ceiling, detail. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 94 Tintoretto, Moses Striking Water from the Rock of Horeb, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 95 Tintoretto, The Brazen Serpent, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 96 Tintoretto, The Rain of Manna, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 97 Tintoretto, Ezekiel's Vision of the Dancing Bones, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 98 Tintoretto, Jacob's Dream of the Heavenly Ladder, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 99 Tintoretto, The Deliverance of Jonah, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 100 Tintoretto, God's Appearance to Moses, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson. 101 Tintoretto, Elisha Feeding the One Hundred, Scuola di San Rocco. Photo Anderson.

xxvi

List of Illustrations 102 Palazzo Ducale, Sala del Maggior Consiglio, view of ceiling. Ceiling designed by Cristoforo Sorte; paintings by Tintoretto, Veronese,Palma Giovane, and others, 1578-1582. Photo Fiorentini. 103 Palma Giovane, Venice Enthroned Above Her Conquered Provinces, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Anderson. 104 Tintoretto and assistants, The Doge Receiving Palm and Laurel from Venice as Diverse States Render Their Spontaneous Submission to the Signoria, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Anderson. 105 Veronese and assistants, The Apotheosis of Venice, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Anderson. 106 Palma Giovane, Venice Enthroned Above Her Conquered Provinces, detail. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 107 Tintoretto, The Doge Receiving Palm and Laurel, detail. Photo Fiorentini. 108 Tintoretto, The Doge Receiving Palm and Laurel, detail. Photo Fiorentini. 109 Tintoretto and assistants, The Repulse of the Milanese Attack on Brescia, 1438, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Anderson. n o Tintoretto and assistants, The Boarding of the Milanese Fleet on Lake Garda, 1440, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. i n Veronese and assistants, The Repulse of the Turkish Attack on Scutari, 1474, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Anderson. 1 1 2 Francesco Bassano, The Defeat of Maximilian at Cadore, 1508, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 113 Palma Giovane, The Defeat of the Visconti Fleet near Cremona, 1427, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Anderson. 114 Palma Giovane, Andrea Gritti Leads the Venetian Reentry into Padua, 1509, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Anderson. 115 Francesco Montemezzano, Albano Armario Martyred by the Turks, 1493, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 116 Girolamo Padavino, Venetian Galleons Are Transported Overland to Lake Garda, 1439, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 1 1 7 Leonardo Corona, Caterina Cornaro Abdicates the Crown of Cyprus, 1484, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 118 Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense), Bernardo Contarmi Offers to Assassinate Lodovico Sforza, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 119 Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense), Carlo Zeno Routs the French Fleet by a Stratagem, 1403, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 120 Pietro Longo, Leonardo Loredan Rejects the Proffered Aid ofBajazeth, 1509, Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale.

xxvii

List of Illustrations 121 Palazzo Ducale, Sala dei Pregadi, view. Ceiling designed by Cristoforo Sorte; paintings by Tintoretto, Marco Vecellio, Andrea Vicentino, and others. Photo Anderson. 122 Palazzo Ducale, Sala dei Pregadi, detail of ceiling. Photo Alinari. 123 Tintoretto and assistants, Venice Receiving the Tribute of the Sea, Sala dei Pregadi. Photo Fiorentini. 124 Tommaso Dolabella, Doge Pasquale Cicogna Adoring the Sacrament, Sala dei Pregadi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 125 Marco Vecellio, The Transport of Treasure and Striking of Coins, Sala dei Pregadi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 126 Palazzo Ducale, Sala dello Scrutinio, view. Ceiling paintings by Francesco Bassano, Andrea Vicentino, Camillo Ballini, and others. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 127 Andrea Vicentino, A Soldier in Armor, Sala dei Pregadi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 128 Studio of Tintoretto, Eloquence, Sala dei Pregadi. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 129 Andrea Vicentino, The Defeat of the Pisan Fleet off Rhodes, 1098, Sala dello Scrutinio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 130 Camillo Ballini, The Defeat of the Genoese Fleet off Trapani, 1265, Sala dello Scrutinio. Photo Direzione del Palazzo Ducale. 131

Francesco Bassano, The Capture of Padua, 1405, Sala dello Scrutinio. Photo Anderson. 132 Veronese, The Adoration of the Magi, from San Nicolò ai Frari. Venice, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Cappella del Rosario. Photo Anderson.

133 San Nicolò ai Frari (formerly), ceiling. Paintings by Veronese and assistants, after 1581. Photos Alinari, Anderson, Fiorentini, and Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 134 Palma Giovane, The Assumption of the Virgin, sketch for a ceiling formerly in the Scuola di San Fantin. Venice, Pinacoteca QueriniStampalia. Photo Fiorentini. 135 Palma Giovane, The Assumption of the Virgin, fragment from a ceiling formerly in the Scuola di San Fantin. Leningrad, Hermitage. Photo Hermitage. 136 San Giuliano, view of ceiling. Paintings by Palma Giovane and Leonardo Corona, before 1585. Photo Giacomelli. 137 Palma Giovane, The Apotheosis of St. Julian, San Giuliano. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 138 Palma Giovane, The Apotheosis of St. Mary Magdalen, study for the ceiling of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite. Leningrad, Hermitage. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 139 Palma Giovane, The Gathering of the Manna, Santa Maria Assunta dei Gesuiti, 1589. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie.

xxviii

List of Illustrations 140 Palma Giovane, The Coronation of the Virgin, study for the ceiling of the Cappella del Rosario, Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung. Photo Graphische Sammlung. 141 Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Cappella del Rosario, view before the fire of 1867. Watercolor by Luigi Querena. Photo: Per il restauro della Cappella del Rosario, Venice, n.d., frontispiece. 142 Scuola di San Fantin (Ateneo Veneto), Sala Terrena, view. Ceiling paintings by Palma Giovane, 1600-1603. Photo Fondazione Giorgio Cini. 143 Palma Giovane, The Offering of Mass for Souls in Purgatory, Scuola di San Fantin. Photo Böhm. 144 Palma Giovane, The Offering of Alms for Souls in Purgatory, Scuola di San Fantin. Photo Böhm. 145 Palma Giovane, Sts. Gregory and ferome, Scuola di San Fantin. Photo Böhm. 146 Palma Giovane, Sts. Augustine and Ambrose, Scuola di San Fantin. Photo Böhm. 147 Palma Giovane, Souls in the Fire of Purgatory, Scuola di San Fantin. Photo Böhm. 148 Carletto Caliari, St. Nicholas in Glory with the Theological Virtues and a Carmelite Saint, from San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, ca. 1590. Venice, Depositi della Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie. 149 Francesco Montemezzano, The Apotheosis of St. Nicholas, San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, ca. 1590. Photo Fiorentini. 150 Leonardo Corona, St. Nicholas Ordering the Felling of the Heathen Grove, San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, ca. 1590. Photo Fiorentini. 151 San Francesco di Paola, view of ceiling. Paintings by Giovanni Contarmi, before 1600. Photo Soprintendenza alle Gallerie.

OC^CIPC

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

I T h e little sixteenth-century church o f San Sebastiano is one o f the many monuments o f Venice the traveler tries not to miss, in this case chiefly because o f the splendid painted ceiling. Great carved and gilded frames are fitted together into an ingenious interlocking pattern that covers the entire nave (pis. 47-53). 1 Set into them are three large paintings b y Paolo Veronese, o f episodes from the story o f Esther and Ahasuerus, alive with incident, sumptuous in dress and color, and dramatically foreshortened in a such w a y as to suggest that the action is taking place somewhere behind the ceiling, directly above our heads. Although the paint and gilt are faded and in some places w o r n away, the ceiling still amply preserves the richness, m o v e ment, and monumentality that are generally characteristic o f this kind o f decoration and that made it an object o f imitation for over a century on the Italian peninsula and in Europe. It is a typical Venetian painted ceiling or sojfitto o f the Renaissance. T h e type was developed b y Venetian artists during the second quarter o f the sixteenth century f r o m a combination o f indigenous and foreign decorative systems. It quickly became popular, and during the great w a v e o f building, rebuilding, and redecoration that swept Venice in the mid- and later sixteenth century, seventy-three such ceilings, large and small, were built in churches, confraternities, and public buildings, plus an unknown number in the palaces o f private citizens. It was hardly an exaggeration when Francesco Sansovino in 1581 w r o t e : "There are infinite buildings [in Venice] with the ceilings o f their rooms and other chambers finished in gold 1

Catalogue no. 19.

3

Introduction and other colors and illustrated with pictures."2 Soon imitated in the Venetian in central Italy,

soffitti veneziani

lerraferma

and

were being produced in southern Germany by the early

seventeenth century, in Belgium by 1620, and in England and France soon after that. In Venice the fashion by that time had come to an end, a victim of declining prosperity and changing tastes. Neither the compartment systems nor the illusionistic paintings of these ceilings were novelties in mid-sixteenth-century Italy. Interlocking compartments were a favorite pattern for vault decoration in ancient Rome 3 which was revived at the end of the fifteenth century in Florence and Rome. Giuliano da Sangallo used them in his design of 1493 for the vestibule vault outside the sacristy of Santo Spirito, Florence (fig. i). 4 Pinturicchio had imitated them in the Sala delle Sibille of the Borgia Apartment of 1492-1495 at the Vatican (fig. 3).5 B y the time of the San Sebastiano ceiling they had become a commonplace of both real and painted architectural decoration. The fiction of the history paintings—that the pictured space somehow grows out o f and extends the real space of the room—was likewise a familiar motive invented in antiquity and revived in the Renaissance. In antiquity it was confined to wall painting and as a rule to nonfigurative subjects, such as architecture or landscape (fig. 4).6 But in the early Renaissance it was applied also to history pictures. Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi in the Castle of Mantua, completed in 1474, parades assemblies of figures between painted orders o f illusionistic architecture and before painted landscape vistas (fig. 6).7 The suggestion is that they exist in a sphere coextensive with our own, a fiction that in a novel fashion is continued into the vault (fig. 7).8 The innovation was soon taken up by other artists. In central Italy Melozzo da Forli frescoed two domes with imaginary architecture and figures during the last quarter of the 2 F. Sansovino, Venetia città nobilissima descritta in XIIII libri, Venice, 1581, 142 v. 3 K . Ronczewski, Gewölbeschmuck im römischen Altertum, Berlin, 1903, pis. V, X X . 4 G. Marchini, Giuliano da Sangallo, Florence, 1942, 90. 5 T h e y appear also in the crossribs of the vaults of the other rooms. C f . F. Ehrle and H . Stevenson, Les fresques du Pinturicchio dans les salles Borgia au Vatican, R o m e , 1898, and J. Schulz, "Pinturicchio and the R e v i v a l of Antiquity," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, X X V , 1962, 35-55. C o m p a r t m e n t s w e r e used contemporaneously in the stucco a n d fresco vault o f the little burial chamber adjoining the Cappella'Carafa at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, R o m e , which was designed b y Filippino Lippi and executed b y Raffaellino del Garbo. C f . C . Bertelli, "Filippino Lippi riscoperto," Il Veltro, VII, 1963, 62, and his " A p p u n t i sugli affreschi nella Cappella C a r a f a . . .," Archivimi Fratrum Praedicatorum,

X X X V , 1965, 127-129 (illus.) 6 See especially the decorations o f the second Pompeiian style: H . G. Beyen, Die Pompejanische Wanddekoration, T h e Hague, 1938-1960 (in progress), I—II, passim. C f . also P. Lehmann, Roman Wall Paintings from Boscoreale. .., C a m bridge, Mass., 1953. 7 P. Kristeller, Andrea Mantegna, Leipzig, 1902, 247-280; E. Tietze Conrat, Mantegna: Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, London, 1955, 16—18, 187 (illus.) ; L. Coletti, La Camera degli Sposi del Mantegna a Mantova, Milan, 1959 (illus.). 8 For a general account of the early history o f illusionistic vault painting, see A. F. Blunt, "Illusionistic Decoration in Central Italian Painting," Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, CVIII, 1959, 309-325, whose treatment is m o r e complete and suggestive than either E. Guldan, Die jochverschleifende Gewòlbedekoration ..., Gottingen, 1954, or S. Sandstrom, Levels of Unreality, Uppsala (Figura, N.S., IV), 1963.

4

Introduction fifteenth century.9 Mantegna designed other decorations of the kind at Rome and Mantua, 10 and Giovanni Maria Falconetto introduced the fashion at Verona. 11 High Renaissance artists gave the motive its classical formulations: Michelangelo in the Sistine Ceiling, Raphael in the Chigi Chapel at Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, and Correggio in the cupola of Parma Cathedral. 12 None of these decorations, however, are directly comparable with such a ceiling as San Sebastiano's. The latter is not a vault but a flat wooden ceiling. Its compartments are larger than those of the real or painted vaults of the earlier sixteenth century, and its design is simpler and more rhythmical. The paintings are less insistently illusionistic than the perspective fantasies of fresco decorations. Finally, the combination of classicizing compartment schemes and illusionistic figurative paintings is unusual in itself. The only example outside Venice from the years at the turn of the century, when these motives were first revived, is the ceiling fresco of the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican, begun in 1508 by Sodoma. In the central field of a compartment system we see a foreshortened group against blue sky and upholding the papal coat of arms (fig. 2).

13

oiputti silhouetted

This ceiling seems to be an

exception, however, without any echo in its own time and place. The expense and difficulty of building masonry vaults in a city founded on mud and piles accounts for the prevalence of wooden ceilings at Venice. They weigh little and develop no outward thrust, requiring therefore simpler substructures than do vaults. The other differences, however, are not as easy to explain. They are due in part to a difference in time between San Sebastiano and the other monuments, which are earlier by half a century or so. But in part they are the result of alterations these motives underwent as they were refracted through the minds of Venetian artists and patrons. Venetian art has had a physiognomy of its own from the earliest times, showing a preference for untectonic arrangements, coloristic richness, and highly ornamented surfaces. It has always impressed these qualities on the

9 In the Sagrestia del Tesoro of the Basilica of Loreto (ca. 1484) and the Cappella Feo of San Biagio at Forlì (1493-1494; destroyed in World W a r II) ; R . Buscaroli, Melozzo da Forlì, Rome, 1938, respectively, 76-87 and 103-106 (illus.). 10 In the chapel of the Villa Belvedere at the Vatican (14881490; destroyed 1776) and in his own burial chapel in Mantua Cathedral ( 1 5 0 6 - 1 5 1 6 ; executed after his death from Mantegna's designs); P. Kristeller, Mantegna, respectively, 3 1 3 316, 348-353 (illus.), and E. Tietze Conrat, Mantegna, 188 (illus.).

12 These monuments are well known, but see especially the following: J. Wilde, " T h e Decoration of the Sistine Chapel," Proceedings of the British Academy, X L I V , 1958, 7 1 - 7 4 ; J. Shearman, " T h e Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, X X I V , 1961, 1 3 8 - 1 3 9 ; and A . E. Popham, Correggio's Drawings, London, 1957. 64-78. 13 The name of Bramantino has been suggested for this work by A . Venturi (Grandi artisti italiani, Bologna, 1925,65), but the evidence seems insufficient to set aside the testimony of Vasari (Vite dei più eccellenti pittori..., ed. G. Milanesi, Florence, IV, 1906, 332-333), that it was Sodoma who began the vault.

11 In the Chapel of San Biagio in Santi Nazaro e Celso (1493); G. Fiocco, " L e architetture di G. M . Falconetto," Dedalo, XI, 1 9 3 0 / 1 9 3 1 , 1 2 0 7 - 1 2 0 8 (illus.).

5

Introduction styles and motives imported into the city from outside. The Venetian adaptation of the early Renaissance coffered ceiling, the ancestor of the soffitto veneziano, is a case in point. Ancient coffering and the first Renaissance imitations of it in wood looked quite different from the Venetian coffered ceilings of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. In the Middle Ages, flat beamed ceilings were decorated with ornamental designs painted directly on the beams, or with paneling laid between and over them. Early Renaissance artists at Florence revived ancient coffering as a model for superimposed paneling of this kind. The earliest datable examples are of the 1450's or possibly the late 144.0's. They are the original ceilings of Brunelleschi's San Lorenzo and Michelozzo's Medici Palace (fig. 9). 14 They have the clear, uncluttered lines and the rich and heavy mouldings of Roman imperial stone coffering (fig. 8), the structural clarity and sculptural weightiness of which they seek to imitate. The fashion spread to Venice in the last quarter of the century. But there coffering became a veil of ornament that obscures rather than decorates the grid of supporting beams behind a ceiling. Ribs and recesses are little differentiated, for instance, in the late fifteenth-century ceiling of the former Albergo of the Scuola della Carità, now one of the galleries of the Accademia (fig. 10). 15 The heaviest forms in the system are the purely decorative rosettes, and a busy pattern of low-relief palmettes, tendrils, and acanthus leaves flows impartially over ribs and recesses alike. 14 The ceiling of San Lorenzo is the subject of three verses in a poem written in praise of Cosimo de' Medici between 1459 and 1461 ; its first portions may have been as early as 1448, the date the transept was roofed. See C. vonFabriczy, "Brunelleschiana," Jahrbuch der preussischen Kunstsammlungen, X X V I I I , 1907, Beiheft, 40-42. The present-day ceiling, with its florid profiles and white and gold color scheme, seems to be a restoration of the seventeenth century. (P. Sanpaolesi, Brunelleschi, Milan, 1962,72 and pi. 51, holds it to be original.) The quattrocento ceiling had larger rosettes, plainer moldings, and smaller fields, as can be seen from the early sixteenthcentury painting of St. Lawrence and Six Companion Saints Inside S. Lorenzo, by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, exhibited in i960 by an unidentified Florentine collector (Mostra dei tesori segreti delle casefiorentine,Florence, i960, no. 35, illus.).

Palazzo Medici," Gesatnmelte Schriften, Leipzig, 1 , 1 9 3 2 , 1 6 5 ; O. Morisani, Michelozzo architetto, Turin, 1951, 49-56, 92. 15 G. Lorenzetti dated the ceiling about 1496 (Venezia e il suo estuario, Milan/Rome, 1927, 663). However, as P. Paoletti observed long ago, the central figure of God the Father is a good deal older than the rest of the ceiling. Paoletti was uncertain when to date it ; he connected it with both a document of 1441 and a monument of 1468 (L'architettura e la scultura del rinascimento in Venezia, Venice, I, 1893, 83, n. 7). The first date can be eliminated, for Paoletti misread the document (see n. 16 below). The second is possible, although the resemblance of the figure to the carvings of 1468 on the choir stalls in Santa Maria dei Frari, as claimed by Paoletti, is not very evident. Other ceilings of the epoch which still survive are illustrated by A . Colasanti, Volte e soffitti italiani, Milan, 1923. They are in the Chapter Hall and Albergo of the Scuola di San Marco (his pis. 31-32) and in four rooms of the Doge's Apartment in the Ducal Palace (pis. 35-36, 136-138). The ceiling of 1499 at San Michele (V. Meneghini, San Michele in Isola di Venezia, Venice, I, 1962, 316, illus. fig. 47) differs from the rest, being a straightforward system of classical coffering.

The ceilings of the Medici Palace are first mentioned by Filarete, who wrote between 1461 and 1462 and had last been in Florence in 1448-1451 ; Tractat über die Baukunst..., ed. W . von Oettingen, Vienna (¡Quellenschriften für Kunstgeschichte und Kunsttechnik, N.F., III), 1890, 678, and J . Spencer, " L a datazione del trattato del Filarete . . . , " Rivista d'Arte, X X X I , 1956, 93-103. The construction of the palace was begun in 1444; A. Warburg, "Der Baubeginn des

6

Introduction It is a peculiarity o f the Venetian ceilings that f r o m the first they were occasionally enriched w i t h figurative reliefs or paintings. 16 In the Accademia ceiling five large medallions containing busts o f God the Father and the Evangelists take the place o f the central coffers (fig. n ) . T h e early sixteenth-century ceiling (actually a false barrel vault) o f the church o f Santa Maria dei Miracoli shows coffers filled with painted busts o f prophets, patriarchs, kings, and other figures from the O l d Testament (pis. 3-4). 17 Sculptures and paintings, however, are conceived quite as much as parts of a smoothly flowing decorative pattern as were the rosettes and ribs. T h e reliefs o f the Scuola della Carita are gilded and the spaces between them are ornamented in the same w a y as the coffering at the sides. Foreshortening, such as it is, is used to draw the roundels together in a common pattern rather than to characterize a naturalistic space that would differentiate the reliefs from the decoration as a whole. In Santa Maria dei Miracoli the painted busts are conceived as silhouettes punctuated b y several bright accents (faces, hands) and framed b y decoratively curling scrolls. Seen f r o m the floor, the little panels are simply patterned surfaces and join easily in the smooth flow o f the decoration across and along the ceiling. There are ceilings where the flat paintings seem to have driven out the carvings almost entirely, such as the ceiling o f Santa Maria degli Angeli at Murano (pis. 1-2). 1 8 Its style suggests that it is by Nicolo Rondinelli (a pupil o f Giovanni Bellini), and the k n o w n facts o f his career would limit the date to 1495 or before. In the middle, a series o f medallions and squares are grouped around a large circular Coronation of the Virgin, in an arrangement that recalls a favorite marble incrustation pattern o f the Lombardi. A t the sides l o w moldings divide the ceiling into square fields containing painted busts o f O l d and N e w Testament figures in round, lettered borders. T h e effect o f the continuous sweep o f paintings is to emphasize the smooth, decorative plane o f the ceiling even more strongly than the l o w relief decorations o f a carved ceiling. The pictures themselves are composed so as not to disturb it. In the Coronation, for instance, Rondinelli is concerned to fit the figures into the circular format and thus to tie them to the frame. Christ and the Virgin bend inward like parentheses, the angels mark the quadrants o f the field like compass points, and clouds and cherub heads form a second circle within the first.

1 6 A ceiling with carved figures at the Scuola della Carita, supposedly in existence as early as 1441 and mentioned in the deliberations o f a rival confraternity, is actually a ghost. T h e document quoted by Paoletti, L'architettura e la scultura, I, 83, col. 2, is misquoted and refers to an altar, not a ceiling. The passage in question reads: " . . . la scuola dela charitadj holtra

lasoa sala et sofitado abia fato over faza fare un altar de gran valor afiguro destando suxo laso[a] sala " (Venice, Archivio di Stato, Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, no. 72 [Registro, 1417-1463], f. 112, October 11, 1441). 1 7 Catalogue no. 12. 1 8 Catalogue no. 8.

7

Introduction It may be that ceilings such as these, consisting almost entirely of paintings, were not a Venetian elaboration of coffering but a survival of a local Gothic tradition of interior paneling schemes. Only one example of such a scheme is known: the now dismembered ceiling of the chapel in the one-time Carrara Palace at Padua. It was decorated about 1345 by Guariento with a series of over thirty little panels showing the Virgin and Child, the four Evangelists, and the Angels in their different ranks (fig. 12). 19 Others like it may have existed, though none are recorded. The nearest source for such a system of serried rows of little pictures is the painted paneling that one finds on Gothic furniture. 20 Its extension over one whole surface of an interior seems as characteristic of Venetian taste as the decorative transformations of conventional coffering in the fifteenth century. The use of paintings in place of carvings on a coffered ceiling occurs occasionally outside Venice too in the early Renaissance. But then the decoration is either an imitation of a Venetian pattern or differs from it in avoiding precisely that kind of fusion of the parts into a decorative whole that is the aim of the Venetians. The ceiling of 1531 formerly in the Oratory of the Confraternity of Santa Maria del Parto at Padua, the paintings of which were executed by Domenico Campagnola, was clearly an all-over painted ceiling of the type of Santa Maria degli Angeli at Murano. 21 On the other hand, the coffered ceiling of about 1490 in a room of the palace of Cardinal Domenico della Rovere at Rome, each coffer of which is filled with a small allegorical representation by Pinturicchio, maintains a clarity of distinction between recessed paintings and protuberant frames that is quite un-Venetian.22 Painted ceilings, while not unique to Venice, had a uniquely decorative character there. All Venetian art and architecture of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century speak of this taste for decorative continuity and richness and undramatic calm and pattern. It makes itself felt in the geometric abstractions and remote stillness of the aging Giovanni Bellini's paintings (fig. 13), the enflamed colors and dreamlike moods of Giorgione's pictures, the rich marble revetments of the buildings of the Lombardi, and the decoratively grouped 19 N o w mainly in the Museum of Padua ; F. Flores d'Arcais, Guariento, Venice (Profili e Saggi di Arte Veneta, III), 1965, 65-68 (illus.). The originai arrangement is uncertain. A frieze-like band around the upper walls, as proposed loc. cit., seems unlikely in view of the description of G. B . Rossetti, Il forastiere illuminato per le pitture . . . di Padova, Padua, 1786, 261-262.

Institutes in Florenz, I X , 1959-1960, 1 4 1 - 1 5 8 , illus., and J . Pope-Hennessy, Fra Angelico, London, 1952, 190-191, illus.). 21 A few sections of the cycle survive at Venice and Castelfranco; S. Moschini Marconi, Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia: Opere d'arte del secolo XVI, Rome, 1962, 1 0 1 - 1 0 3 (illus.). 22 D. Redig de Campos, "Il soffitto dei Semidei del Pinturicchio . . . nel Palazzo di Domenico della Rovere," Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Mario Salmi, Rome, II, 1962, 363-375 (illus.). Other reproductions, though not of the complete ceiling either, in E. Carli, Il Pintoricchio, Milan, i960, pis. 43-53-

20 Examples are the cupboard panels of ca. 1330 by Taddeo Gaddi from Santa Croce, and the silver chest panels of the 1450's by Fra Angelico and Baldovinetti from Santissima Annunziata, Florence (L. Marcucci, " Per gli armar] della sacrestia di S. Croce," Mitteilungen des kunsthistorischen

8

Introduction orders and windows

o f the facades designed by Bartolommeo

B o n and

Antonio

Abbondi. 2 3 Titian's early w o r k is also governed by a Venetian sense for coloristic richness and continuous surface pattern. But it is unusual in one respect, in the artist's tendency to dramatize subjects and forms. There is a hint o f this in his early St. Mark altarpiece o f 1507-1508 at Santa Maria della Salute, but it emerges clearly and with progressively greater force only in the series o f great altarpieces that began with the Assumption of the Virgin o f 1516-1518 in the Frari and culminated in the n o w destroyed St. Peter Martyr altarpiece o f 1525-1530 (fig. 14). 24 N o Venetian artist before him had sought such dramatic movement and strength, and in the absence o f local models Titian looked to the R o m a n High Renaissance o f Michelangelo and Raphael and to ancient statuary for the expressive figure style he required. In this w a y he set in motion a long, slow reorientation o f Venetian tastes that led in the end to a synthesis o f central Italian values o f mass and drama and the traditional Venetian ones o f color and calm. Titian himself was not the only agent o f this change. The immigrant and visiting artists w h o from the 152o's onwards reached Venice in growing numbers played an equally important role. In 1527 and the years immediately following they were refugees from the Sack o f R o m e and the troubled times that followed as Pope and Emperor combined forces to crush the Republic o f Florence. Later, in the 1540's and after, they were visitors attracted by the cultural and intellectual eminence Venice was acquiring through the relative freedom o f thought still existing there, while elsewhere in Italy an increasing rigidity was taking hold o f social, religious, and political life. The first to come was Jacopo Sansovino, the Florentine sculptor and architect w h o had been driven from his w o r k in R o m e by the Sack o f 1527. He had fled to Venice with the intention o f proceeding to France but instead found employment on the lagoon. In 1529 he was appointed official architect to the Procurators o f St. Mark, a position he retained for the rest o f his life. 25 Pietro Aretino, the professional writer o f letters, pamphlets, and plays, bon vivant and self-appointed critic o f the arts, also came in 1527 after an unsuccessful effort to establish himself at the Gonzaga court in Mantua. He quickly made himself a power in the 23 Illustrateci in G. Gronau, Spätwerke des G. Bellini, Strassburg, 1928, and G. Bellini: Des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart/ Berlin (Klassiker der Kunst, X X X V I ) , 1930; G. M . Richter, Giorgio da Castelfranco, Chicago, 1937. Cf. also R . Pallucchini, La pittila veneziana del Cinquecento, Bergamo, I, 1944. For architecture, see. P. Paoletti, L'architettura e la scultura, II, 27S-292 (illus.).

H. Tietze, Titian, London, 2I950, pis. 14, 35, 49, 54, 65, and 300.

24

69,

2 5 J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture: Catalogue, London, 1963, 51 (with further references).

9

Introduction city's artistic life through the friendships he formed with Titian and Sansovino and through the wide dissemination he gave his views on art in the collections of letters that he published at regular intervals beginning in 1538. 26 Sansovino attracted to Venice young Tuscan sculptors eager to work in his studio. Bartolommeo Ammanati came for several years in about 1528 and again from about 1540 to 1544. Danese Cattaneo came in 1530 and settled permanently in Venice. 27 Nicolò Tribolo and Benvenuto Cellini came briefly in 1534 or 153 5. 28 Aretino also became a goal for visitors. Rosso Fiorentino stayed in his house on the Grand Canal for several months in 1530. 29 The sculptor and medalist Leone Leoni, a fellow Aretine, was encouraged and patronized by Aretino during his visits to Venice in about 1529 and to Padua in 1537. 3 0 Vasari came to Venice in 1541 expressly to execute the decorations for the première performance of Aretino's play, La Talanta.31 Other artists came more or less on their own. Sebastiano Serlio of Bologna, architect, treatise writer, and former pupil of Baldassare Peruzzi, came between 1527 and 1531 and stayed until 1541. 3 2 The Florentine painter Francesco Salviati came in 1539, together with a pupil, Giuseppe Porta, called Giuseppe Salviati, who, when Francesco left the following year, stayed behind and made a successful career for himself on the lagoon. 33 The patrons of these men were at first only a small circle of fellow expatriates and a few Venetian noblemen inclined to Tusco-Roman tastes. Chief among the latter were the grandsons of Doge Antonio Grimani, living in the family palace near Santa Maria Formosa. Vettor, in his capacity as Procurator of St. Mark de supra, was the principal supporter of the construction of a new library opposite the Ducal Palace. Marino, a Cardinal since 1527, was a patron of the miniaturist Giulio Clovio and the principal heir after the Republic of the collections of antiquities, paintings, and drawings formed at Rome by his uncle, the late Cardinal Domenico Grimani. Giovanni, Bishop of Ceneda and later Patriarch of Aquileia, 26 A . Luzio, Pietro Aretino nei primi suoi anni a Venezia ..., Turin, 1888. Aretino's letters on art and artists have been collected in a useful edition by E. Camesasca, Lettere sulV arte di P. Aretino, 3 vols, in 4 parts, Milan, 1957-1960. Vol. Ill, i, reprints the eighteenth-century life of Aretino by Mazzucchelli. " J . Pope-Hennessy, Italian High Renaissance Sculpture: Catalogue, 72-73, 109 (with further references). 28 Ibid., 58-59 (with further references). The two artists were rebuffed by Sansovino; B. Cellini, Vita, ed. O. Bacci, Florence, 1901, 62. 29 Vasari, Vite (see n. 13 above), V , 165-167. 30 J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian High Renaissance Sculpture: Catalogue, 99-100 ; E. Plon, Leone Leoni, Paris, 1887, 3-6.

31 J . Schulz, "Vasari at Venice," Burlington Magazine, 1961, 500-511.

CIII,

32 For Serlio's date of arrival, cf. Catalogue no. 89. For his date of departure, see Lorenzo Lotto's book of accounts : on February 15, 1541 (N.S.), Serlio was still at Venice and repaid the artist a debt of six ducats (A. Venturi, "Il libro di conti di Lorenzo Lotto," Gallerie Nazionali Italiane, I, 1894, 214, col. 1). B y December of the same year he had arrived in France (W. B. Dinsmoor, "Literary Remains of Sebastiano Serlio," Art Bulletin, X X I V , 1942, 55, n. 4). 33 1 . H. Cheney, "Francesco Salviati's North Italian Journey," Art Bulletin, X L V , 1963, 337-349.

IO

Introduction employed Francesco Salviati during the latter's stay in Venice to decorate a ceiling in the family palace and also otherwise favored non-Venetian artists in his commissions.34 The ability of Venetian artists with foreign styles, such as Pordenone and Lorenzo Lotto, to establish themselves in the capital in the late 1520's speaks for a growth of new tastes. Shortly after 1516 Pordenone had developed a heavy agitated figure style based on the Vatican frescoes of Raphael and Michelangelo but animated by an anticlassical intensity and tension quite his own. Within a few years of his return from Rome he had procured important commissions in Treviso, Cremona, and his native Friuli. But it was not until 1528 with the commission to fresco the sanctuary of the church of San Rocco that he received an equally important assignment at Venice, and it was not until the 1530's that sufficient work came his way to enable him to settle there.35 Lotto's idiosyncratic, intimate, and tormented style was also formed under the influence of Roman painting. For two decades it attracted chiefly provincial patrons in the Marches, Venetia, and Lombardy. Only in the later i52o's did Lotto begin to build a clientèle in Venice. 36 The growing body of works produced in Venice by the expatriates and visitors encouraged the new taste for expression and drama. In 1536 Sansovino began the Library of St. Mark on the Piazzetta and the Palazzo Corner on the Grand Canal. In 1537 he broke ground for a new Mint on the Bacino di San Marco and the Dolfin palace near the Rialto Bridge. As they rose these buildings put before the eyes of the Venetian public and artists the grave forms of the central Italian Renaissance: heavy rustication, paired orders, plain surfaces, and tunneled passages.37 Similarly Sansovino's bronze reliefs of 15 3 7 and 1541-1544 for the singers' tribunes in St. Mark's introduced Venetian sculptors and painters on their home ground to a central Italian, dramatic narrative style full of clamor and movement (fig. 15). 38 During the same years Salviati collaborated with Giovanni da Udine and others at the Grimani Palace near Santa Maria Formosa to create Raphaelesque vault decorations of delicate frescoes and stuccoes and a Roman ceiling of quadri riportati.39 Vasari painted several portraits and devotional pictures and two large decorative cycles during his nine months in 3 + Ibid.; M . Hirst, "Three Ceiling Decorations by Francesco Salviati," Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, X X V I , 1963, 146-156. Further: P. Paschini, "Il mecenatismo artistico del patriarca Giovanni Grimani," Studi in onore di A. Calderini e R. Paribeni, Milan, 1956-1957, III, 851-862; and his "Il mecenatismo artistico del cardinale Marino Grimani," Miscellanea in onore di R. Cessi, Rome, II, 1958, 79-88. 35 G. Fiocco, Giovanni Antonio Pordenone, Padua, ' 1 9 4 3 , 106-109 (chronological table). 36 A . Bariti and A . Boschetto, Lorenzo Lotto, Florence,

II

1953, 58; also E. v. d. Bercken in U . Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler, Leipzig, 1907-1950, XXIII, under Lotto. 37 Cf. W . Lötz, " T h e Roman Legacy in Sansovino's Venetian Buildings," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, X X I I , 1963, 3 - 1 2 . 38 J . Pope-Hennessy, Italian High Renaissance Sculpture: Text, 83-84; Plates, pi. 1 1 1 ; Catalogue, 105-106. 39 I. H. Cheney, "Francesco Salviati" (see n. 33 above); and, in the present volume, Catalogue no. 93.

Introduction the city. 40 Serlio contributed advice to a patrician amateur erecting a palace near the Gesuiti and brought out the first installment of his architectural treatise.41 Pordenone frescoed the Grand Canal facade of the house of Johannes van Haanen, the cloister of Santo Stefano (fig. 20), the domes of San Rocco and San Giovanni Elimosinario, and also painted altarpieces for churches in Venice and Murano. 42 Pietro Aretino contributed no works of art but gave encouragement to the movement. From the first he had procured for himself drawings and works of art from central Italy through his correspondents and visitors. B y the later 1530's he had assembled a small gallery of Tusco-Roman moderns in the center of Venice. The collection included drawings by Rosso and Vasari, medals by Leoni, sculptures by Tribolo, copies after Michelangelo, and perhaps even a modello by the latter's own hand.43 In letters published in 1538 and 1542 he proclaimed in extravagant terms his admiration for Giulio Romano and Michelangelo and publicized the formal qualities and ideals of their work. 44 Necessarily Venetian painting began to reflect these new ideals. Paris Bordone's wellknown Presentation of the Ring to the Doge of about 1534, now in the Accademia, is constructed on diagonal axes that lead the composition into depth in the manner of a central Italian history painting.45 Bonifazio sought to do the same in the Judgment of Solomon of 1533 and the Massacre ofthe Innocents of a few years later (fig. 16), both also now in the Accademia.46 Significantly, the figures of this older and more conservative artist remain doggedly aligned on axes parallel to the picture plane despite the diagonal elements he introduces into his compositions. But in the motives of the executioners his search for an animated and dramatic effect is clear. One of them is borrowed from Titian's St. Peter Martyr altarpiece (fig. 14); the others are his own invention, and they do capture something of the heavy, heroic figure style of the Tusco-Roman High Renaissance. 40 G. Vasari, Literarischer Nachlass, ed. K. Frey, Munich, 1 9 2 3 - 1 9 4 0 , 1 , 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 . Cf. also J. Schulz, "Vasari at Venice" (see n. 3 1 above), and, in this book, Catalogue no. 50. 41 L. Heydenreich in Thieme and Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon, X X X , under Serlio ; G. A . Moschini, Guida per la cittì di Venezia, Venice, I, 1 8 1 5 , 671-672. 42 G. Fiocco, Pordenone (see n. 35 above), 1 1 5 , 1 2 2 - 1 2 3 (illus.). The frescoes in San Giovanni Elimosinario have been destroyed but were noted by M . Boschini in Le minere della pittura, Venice, 1664, 262 (idem, Le ricche minere della pittura veneziana, Venice, 1674, San Polo, 14). 43 For the drawings, see G. Vasari, Vite (see n. 13 above), V , 1 6 7 ; and his Literarischer Nachlass, I, 46-49. For the medals, see P. Aretino, Lettere sull'arte, ed. E. Camesasca, Milan, 1 9 5 7 - 1 9 6 0 , 1 , nos. xvii, 1; for the sculpture, ibid., I, no. xliv; for the Michelangelo material, ibid., I, no. x, and Vasari, Literarischer Nachlass, I, 36-39.

44 Cf. Aretino's appraisal of Michelangelo's draftsmanship, written in 1537 (Lettere sull'arte, I, no. xxxviii): "la difficultà de le linee estreme (somma scienza ne la sottilità de la pittura) vi è sì facile che conchiudete ne l'estremità dei corpi il fine de l'arte . . . " The characteristically Tuscan insistence on drawing is encountered repeatedly in the letters. Cf. his letter of 1 5 3 7 to Lodovico Dolce (ibid., no. xxxii): "che onor si fanno i colori vaghi, che si consumano in dipingere frascariuole senza disegno? La lor gloria sta nei tratti con che gli distende Michelagnolo." Cf. the letter of the same year to Jacopo del Giallo (ibid., no. xxv): "l'opra vostra è tutta disegno e tutta rilievo." 45 S. Moschini Marconi, Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia . . . Secolo XVI, no. 1 1 7 (illus.). 46

12

Ibid., respectively, nos. 7 1 and 62 (illus.).

Introduction Parmigianino was the most generally admired model in the early years of this development. The decorative, cursive linearismi of his very personal style satisfied the Venetian love for surface richness, while at the same time his tense distortions of poses and proportions appealed to the new interest in an expressive figure art. Even Titian's work of the early 1530's suddenly shows his influence, in paintings such as the London Madonna with Sts. Catherine and John the Baptist and the Paris Allegory of Alfonso d'Avalos, in the form of a preference for artful figure poses and flowing surface patterns.47 B y the early 1540's Parmigianino's influence was displaced by other models in Titian's paintings and those of younger artists. Titian's ceiling paintings from Santo Spirito in Isola (pis. 12-15) 4 8 borrow motives from Giulio Romano and antique statuary and aspire generally to an ideal of heavy, almost grandiloquent forms that is no longer Emilian but Roman in quality. His figures of Abel and Goliath are based on fallen warriors from battle scenes in the Sala di Troia at Mantua (figs. 17-19), which in turn are derived from Roman sarcophagus reliefs.49 The figure of Abraham is based on the Laòcoon. Titian's figure ideal is now directly comparable with that of contemporary Roman painting. In Michelangelo's Last Judgment, the first frescoes of Francesco Salviati and Jacopino del Conte at the Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato, and Daniele da Volterra's decoration of the Orsini Chapel in the Trinità dei Monti (all works of the late i53o's and the i54o's), we find the same heavy-set, muscular bodies, the same plastic poses and emphatic movements.50 At this time Titian's Roman trip still lay a year or two in the future. The chief inspiration for the resurgence of formal and emotional vehemence in his art, and particularly for the forms in which it found expression, was Giulio. But contemporary central Italian painting in some form must also have been known to Titian ; as we have seen, Venice was now no longer artistically isolated in the way she had been twenty years before. Artists familiar with the Roman milieu such as Salviati and Vasari were visiting the city. Furthermore, artists from the Venetian states were now visiting Rome. Besides Pordenone and Lotto we know of only minor figures who made the trip before Titian, but as intermediaries they were important nevertheless. Thus Giovanni Battista Ponchino of Treviso, who worked in and around Venice as a painter of decorations 47 T. Hetzer, "Studien über Tizians Stil," Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft, I, 1923, 248 (illus., H. Tietze, Titian, London, 2I950, figs. 86, 91). 48 Catalogue no. 20. 49 Hetzer, loc. cit. An alternative source for Titian's Goliath is the figure in G . B . Ghisi's engraving after Giulio of David and Goliath (dated 1540; A. Bartsch, Le Peintregraveur, Vienna, 1803-1821, X V , 379, no. 6). Like the dead Ceranos in the Sala di Troia, the source proposed by Hetzer, it derives from

the Aegisthus of an Orestes sarcophagus. C f . O . Brendel, "Borrowings from Ancient Art in Titian" (Art Bulletin, X X X V I I , 1955, 121), who, however, is unaware that the motive reached Titian through Giulio. 50 For Salviati and Jacopino, see H. Voss, Die Malerei der Spätrenaissance in Rom und Florenz, Berlin, 1920,1, 141-144, 233-234. For Daniele, see B . Davidson and M . Hirst, " D a n iele da Volterra and the Orsini Chapel," Burlington Magazine, C I X , 1967, 498-509, 553-561.

IS

Introduction and altarpieces, was in Rome sometime before 1546, 51 and Giovanni de Mio of Schio, who worked in the vicinity of Venice as a frescoist and mosaicist, seems to have been at Rome around the turn of the decade from the 1530's to the 1540's. 52 Young artists like Tintoretto and Bassano who were just beginning their careers now aspired to a heroic figure style almost from the very start. Among Tintoretto's earliest works are the Presentation of Christ of about 1539 in Santa Maria dei Carmini, Venice, in which the figures kneel and stand in complicated twisting movements that have no basis in the action represented, and the Sacra Conversazione of 1540, now in a New York private collection, where the Madonna is copied from Michelangelo's Medici Madonna (figs. 22-23). 53 Bassano's paintings of the same years are suddenly filled with heaps of striving, struggling nudes as in the Samson and the Philistines at Dresden and the Martyrdom of St. Catherine at Bassano, or with quotations from Raphael, as in the Road to Calvary in Cambridge. 54 The change from decoratively patterned ceiling paintings of the kind in Santa Maria degli Angeli to illusionistic compositions such as are used in San Sebastiano was another reflection of the general change in tastes. The first step seems to have been taken in the early 1530's by Pordenone, in paintings for the ceiling of a ground-floor room of the former Scuola di San Francesco, near the Frari in Venice. 55 The room no longer exists, and the centerpiece of the cycle has disappeared. But eight pictures from the sides of the ceiling can still be traced; two are in London and six in Budapest (pis. 5,7). They show the Evangelists and four Franciscan Saints before some sort of wall that is foreshortened as if seen from below. Unlike the busts of Santa Maria degli Angeli or Santa Maria dei Miracoli, the volume of these figures is thereby emphasized and their settings acquire reality and depth. As a result the forms have a dramatic immediacy and weightiness that are new in Venetian ceiling decoration and that reflect the new tastes of the 1530's and 1540's. With the exception perhaps of St. Luke, the figures themselves are not foreshortened and only the architecture is seen from below. And even here the view is not a proper worm's-eye view but some sort of compromise projection halfway between it and a fully frontal view. 51 In that year Enea Vico engraved Michelangelo's Last Judgment from a drawing by Ponchino; P. Aretino, Lettere sull'arte (see n. 26 above), II, no. cccxi. 52 C. Ragghianti, "Notizie e letture," Crìtica d'Arte, V , 1940, no. 23, iv-v. 53 R . Pallucchini, La giovinezza del Tintoretto, Milan, 1950, 74-75, 80-81. 54 W . Arslan, I Bassano, Milan, 1ig6o, I, respectively, 167, 163 (illus., P. Zampetti, Mostra di Jacopo Bassano, Venice [Palazzo Ducale], 1959, 38,42), 165 (illus., B . Berenson, Italian

Pictures of the Renaissance: Venetian Schools, London, 1957, II, fig. 1192). ss Catalogue no. 25. The date of the cycle is unknown but is commonly agreed to be in the first half of the 1530's. The pictures show none of the attenuation of forms and rhythmic, curvilinear patterns that characterize the last, Parmigianesque phase of Pordenone's work and are already fully developed in the unfinished St. Mark altarpiece at Pordenone, begun in 1535. Cf. G. Fiocco, G. A. Pordenone, Padua, 2 I943, 70, 108, pi. 172.

14

Introduction The volumes and spaces in this way are kept from parting company entirely with the decorative plane of the ceiling. For the same reason marks of distance and mass are generally suppressed. Gestures which reach through space are covered by flat draperies or somehow are pressed back into a seeming flatness, and the meeting point of the corner walls behind the heads of the Evangelists is hidden in every case but one. Undeniably there are difficulties when we attempt to follow out the illusionistic metaphor in detail. The architectural background of the pictures seems to have been meant as a prolongation of the walls of the room and as continuous from one panel to the next. Yet each of these fictions raises questions. The first leaves the bodies of the figures suspended in some invisible zone between the real room and the ceiling. The second leaves unexplained how we are to leap in our imagination from one side of the ceiling to the next. The Evangelists fall into two separate and self-sufficient pairs of compositions because of the use of a common vanishing point in each group of two. N o matter whether one places a single saint or two between each pair of Evangelists, there is no way to move from one pair to the next without breaking the illusion of continuity. Pordenone painted another group of illusionistic ceiling paintings in 1535-1538. They showed "moral virtues" and decorated what is now the Sala dello Scrutinio in the Ducal Palace.56 They were destroyed in the great fire of 1577, and the descriptions of them that survive are not detailed enough to let us know whether in this decoration foreshortening was uniformly applied to figures and setting alike, and the discontinuity of the illusion thereby corrected. A few years later both inconsistencies were resolved in a ceiling by a visiting artist, Giorgio Vasari. Vasari came to Venice as a young man in December, 1541, at the behest of Pietro Aretino, to execute the decorations for a private performance of the latter's new play, La Talanta. The success of this work and the interest of Tuscan friends at Venice led to further commissions, and Vasari remained at Venice until August of the following year. Among his commissions was a cycle of paintings for a soffitto in Giovanni Corner's newly acquired palace on the Grand Canal. The building was being refurbished by the Veronese architect, Michele Sanmicheli, who obtained the commission for Vasari. There were to be nine paintings, a central figure of Charity, four further Virtues at the sides, and four emblem-bearing putti in the corners.57 Today only the four Virtues and two of the putti survive, scattered through private collections in England and Italy (pis. 6, 8). They suffice to show that Vasari's paintings were based 56

Catalogue no. 89.

" Catalogue no. jo.

15

Introduction on those at the Scuola di San Francesco and were in some ways a critique of them. The figures are seen from the same angle as the architecture. The Virtues are full-length figures rather than the traditional Venetian busts, and their companions, while effectively reduced to busts by the high horizon of the pictures, clearly occupy a space large enough to contain their entire figures. That space ends in each scene against a balustrade which serves like Pordenone's imaginary wall as the fictive prolongation of the walls below. Although imagined as continuing from one panel to the next, the architectural forms are shown from a different viewpoint in each painting. As a result the pictures do not fall into groups and there is no difficulty in accepting the fiction that space is continuous throughout the lot. In still another way Vasari sought to improve on Pordenone. The latter's figure of St. Francis in the central Stigmatization was described by an eighteenth-century observer as a "figura intiera picciola." One presumes that the saint was represented either as smaller than the flanking Evangelists and saints or as far removed into the distance. Neither possibility envisages a composition in harmony with the smaller panels, for the scene could not have participated in the imaginary space of the outer ring of pictures. Vasari's Charity did precisely that. The painting is lost, but we notice from the upturned faces of the Virtues that the figure was placed in some higher zone of the same space. Thus the space behind Vasari's ceiling was conceived as one continuum, glimpsed through as many "windows" as there were pictures, and rising upward like a pyramid from all sides to the apex of the Charity. The illusion is basically the same as that suggested by the central scenes in the vault of Giulio Romano's Sala di Psiche at Mantua, which Vasari presumably had seen when he visited Mantua on his way to Venice (fig. 24). Applied to the paintings of a sojffitto such as Vasari's, it offered a means of integrating the several representations into one unified edifice of figures and space. Like Pordenone, Vasari used only a very gentle foreshortening and avoided showing unduly the telltale marks of distance and obliquity that would intensify our sensations of recession and volume. In addition he organized the relief of his forms in layers parallel to the picture plane and progressively less plastic, thus fostering our unconscious awareness of the surface. Yet the unified spatial system of the rising pyramid of figures is at odds with these devices, for it tends to lift the pictures away from the ceiling and make of them a separate order of forms. A still more important commission for ceiling paintings was given to Vasari toward the end of his Venetian stay. He was to execute three large history paintings for the ceiling of Santo Spirito in Isola, a monastic church on an island between the Giudecca and the Lido. The church was being rebuilt by Jacopo Sansovino, and presumably it was the latter who planned 16

FIGURE 2 Sodoma and Raphael, frescoed vault, 1508-1509. R o m e , Palazzo Vaticano, Stanza della Segnatura.

FIGURE 3 Pinturicchio (workshop), frescoed vault, 1494. R o m e , Palazzo Vaticano, Appartamento Borgia, Sala delle Sibille.

FIGURE 4 Cubiculum f r o m the villa o f Fannio Senestor, Boscoreale, southeast corner, ca. 40-30 B.C. N e w Y o r k , Metropolitan Museum o f Art.

FIGURE j School o f Andrea Mantegna, vault decoration, ca. 1487. Destroyed; formerly Mantua, San Francesco.

FIGURE 6 Andrea Mantegna, mural decoration ( The Marquis Lodovico Gonzaga with his Family and Court), completed 1474. Mantua, Castello, Camera degli Sposi.

FIGURE 7 Andrea Mantegna, vault decoration, before 1474. Mantua, Castello, Camera degli Sposi.

FIGURE 8 Coffered vault with apotheosis of the Divus Titus, after 81 A.D. Rome, Arch of Titus.

FIGURE 9 Coffered ceiling, before 1451. Florence, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.

FIGURE 10 Coffered ceiling, ca. 1496. Venice, Accademia, Gallery X X I V (formerly Albergo of the Scuola della Carità).

F I G U R E LI

Coffered ceiling, detail.

Venice, Accademia, Gallery X X I V .

FIGURE

12 Guariento, The Choir of Thrones, ca. 1345,

from the chapel of the Carrara Palace, Padua. Padua, Museo Civico.

FIGURE 13 Giovanni Bellini, The Assassination of St. Peter Martyr, ca. 1509. London, National Gallery.

FIGURE 14 Titian, The Assassination of St. Peter Martyr, 1525-1530. Destroyed; formerly Venice, Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Engraving by V. Lefevre (reproduced in the direction of the original painting).

1 1

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tu..

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it

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- J i U J

FIGURE 15 Jacopo Sansovino, St. Mark Drawn Through the Streets of Alexandria, 1537. Venice, San Marco.

FIGURE 16 Bonifazio Veronese, The Massacre of the Innocente, ca. 1540. Venice, Accademia.

I-IGUKE 1 7 Giulio R o m a n o and assistants, Episodes from the Trojan War, 1538. Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, Sala di Troia.

FIGURE 18 Sala di T r o i a , detail,

FIGURE 1 9 Sala di Troia, detail,

A Fallen Warrior.

Ceranos Dragged from the Chariot of Meriones.

FIGURE

20 Pordenone, David and Goliath, ca. 1532. Venice, Santo Stefano. Engraving by Jacopo Picino.

21 Sebastiano Serlio, coffered ceiling, before 1531. Formerly Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Sala della Libreria. Woodcut from Serlio, Regoli generali di architettura . .., Venice, 1537. FIGURE

FIGURE 22 Michelangelo, Medici Madonna, 1524-1532. Florence, San Lorenzo, Sagrestìa Nuova.

FIGURE 23 Tintoretto, Sacra Conversazione, 1540. New York, Private Collection.

FIGURE 24 Giulio R o m a n o and assistants, vault decoration ( The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche and other episodes from their tale), 1528. Mantua, Palazzo del Te, Sala di Psiche.

FIGURE 25 Pierino da Vinci, The Restoration of Pisa by Cosimo I, after 1549. Rome, Museo Vaticano.

Introduction the ceiling and steered the commission for its paintings to Vasari, a fellow Tuscan. But Vasari left Venice in the summer of 1542, when he had done no more than some preliminary drawings. The commission then passed to Sansovino's friend, Titian, who produced his own first set of ceiling paintings.58 The church and the carved framework are gone, victims of the nineteenth-century demolitions in Venice. The paintings, however, survive. They were removed in the seventeenth century and hung in the sacristy and choir of Santa Maria della Salute. Three large canvases represent Cain and Abel, The Sacrifice ofAbraham, and The Victory of David (pis. 12-15). Eight small roundels show heads of the Evangelists (figs. 52-53) and Doctors of the Church. They were probably placed at the corners of the larger pictures, punctuating the sequence with small accents of color down the sides. In the large histories Titian seized on the illusionistic metaphor of Pordenone and Vasari as a means of dramatizing his subjects to the utmost. The figures are seen in oblique foreshortening, silhouetted against the open sky, in a manner that gives their heavy, muscular bodies and large gestures a spectacular force and grandeur, quite apart from the dramatic content of the actions in which they are engaged. Vasari had not faced the problem of constructing a naturalistic setting for narrative subjects in foreshortening, and we do not know how Pordenone coped with it in his lost Stigmatization. Titian met it by inserting a strip of rising ground between the figures' feet and the picture edge, creating an inclined stage that shows considerable depth despite the worm's-eye view. This fiction of ground at cornice level is owed to Giulio Romano's frescoes in the Sala di Troia at Mantua (fig. 17), which Titian had had the opportunity to see in 1540 when they were newly finished.59 However, he did not take over unchanged the illusionistic system of Giulio's decoration. Giulio, like Vasari in the Palazzo Corner, was seeking to create the illusion of one continuous space behind his vault or ceiling—in this case actually replacing the vault. To avoid the lateral distortions of a focused perspective construction he had used a 58

Museo del Castello Sforzesco) ; the other is on the vault of the former Cappella di San Donato (Room III). The former was executed by a team of artists that included Bonifacio Bembo and Stefano de' Fedeli. The latter is by unknown hands. Giulio added to the formula of such decorations the use of illusionistic foreshortening, which is missing in both examples. Cf. L. Beltrami, Il Castello di Milano . . . 1368-153}, Milan, 1894, 283 f., 297 f., 693 f., and illus. on 299 (Cappella Ducale); P. Arrigoni et al., Guida al Castello Sforzesco ed ai suoi Musei, Milan, 1957, 48 f., 64 f., and pi. X V I I (Cappella Ducale) ; and S. Baroni and S. Samek Ludovici, La pittura lombarda del Quattrocento, Messina/Florence, 1952, 104 f.

Catalogue no. 20. That Titian was in Mantua in 1540 w e know from Aretino's letter of November 20 to Alfonso d'Avalos (Lettere sull'arte [see n. 26 above], I, no. c). For the Sala di Troia, see F. Hartt, Giulio Romano, N e w Haven, 1958,1, 1 7 9 - 1 8 2 ; further illus., ibid., II, figs. 385-394. As J . Shearman has pointed out to me, the basic scheme of the vault—imaginary ground around the sides and open sky in the center—seems to have been observed by Giulio from earlier Lombard vault decorations. The Corte Ducale in the Castello Sforzesco at Milan possesses two such decorations, both of the 1470's and representing The Resurrection. One is on the vault of the former Cappella Ducale (Room XII of the 55

17

Introduction succession of different viewpoints, but the illusion is plainly continuous all around the room, and it is this continuity which is the chief unifying factor of his decoration as a whole. Titian on the other hand preferred to create three distinct moments o f illusion. While individually suggestive of an extension of the real space, the three pictures together do not suggest the existence behind the ceiling of a homogeneous space continuous with our own. Each picture refers the spectator back again to the ceiling as the point from which the illusion departs, leaving only decorative links to bind the pictures together. One such link is provided by the repetitive pattern of the strips o f rising ground and another by the coloristic balancing of the near-monochrome Cain and Abel and David around the softly contrasting colors of the Abraham. The latter is singled out as the central painting of the suite by its slightly larger size and more fully filled canvas. Finally, the insistently diagonal forms o f the paintings unite in a great zigzag pattern not unlike the one that moves through the forms of the second half of Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling. 60 Both it and the discontinuity of illusion in Titian's paintings must have been owed to Michelangelo. Titian at this time had not yet been to Rome, but drawings and engravings had made the Sistine Ceiling common property o f Italian artists by the fifth decade of the century. The pictures from Santo Spirito were painted at the high point of Titian's so-called mannerist phase. Not only are the figures modeled on the heavy, rhetorical figure styles of Giulio Romano and late Hellenistic statuary, but colors tend to the monochrome and highlights and shadows are brutally strong. However, the plastic force of the forms is not allowed to disrupt the decorative pattern of the compositions. Like Pordenone and Vasari, Titian turns forms and poses into the plane and masks receding objects. Relief layers are made to He parallel to the picture plane. Furthermore, light and shade are resourcefully used to associate on the surface forms separate in depth, and the diagonals of the canvases are echoed in the diagonal axes of bodies and limbs. Most importantly, Vasari's fiction of a unified space is abandoned. The substitution of independent moments of illusion for a comprehensive illusion, the spaciousness of the individual representations, and the emphatic decorative association of the pictures along the surface of the ceiling—these all became norms for this kind of painting at Venice. Although Pordenone and Vasari took the first steps toward the classic formula for soflitto painting, it was Titian who perfected it in his pictures for Santo Spirito in Isola. 60 This remains true even if the initial painting of the series is not inverted. For the composition of the Sistine Ceiling, see J. Wilde in " D e r ursprüngliche Plan Michel-

angelos zum Jüngsten Gericht," Die Graphischen Künste, N.F., I, 1936, 11, and in "The Decoration o f the Sistine Chapel," Proceedings of the British Academy, X L I V , 1958, 78.

I8

Introduction It is a great pity that all the sofiitti of the 1530's and 1540's have been dismantled or destroyed, leaving us without any certain knowledge of the settings for which these pictures were painted. There are some grounds for thinking that the ceiling decorated by Pordenone in 1535-1538 for the Sala dello Scrutinio in the Ducal Palace retained the framework of a coffered ceiling designed by Sebastiano Serlio several years before.61 As illustrated in Serlio's treatise on architecture the ceiling had a system of three square fields containing four coffers each (fig. 21). If the framework was reused, then, like the ceilings of Santa Maria degli Angeli and Santa Maria della Visitazione,62 Pordenone's soffitto was basically a coffered ceiling in which paintings replaced coffers. O f the ceiling at the Scuola di San Francesco we know nothing. The earliest ceilings to survive undisturbed are that in the nave of San Sebastiano (pis. 47-48)63 and five others of the same decade, the 1550's. They are in the rooms of the Council of Ten in the Ducal Palace (pis. 20, 32, 38),64 in the sacristy of San Sebastiano (pi. 43),65 and in the reading room of the Libreria di San Marco (pi. 54).66 All have frames of richly carved friezes and garlands, linked together in interlocking compartment systems that imitate ancient Roman patterns. W e have no direct evidence that the two ceilings decorated by Titian and Vasari looked like this, but there is some reason to think so. To begin with, the placing of the pictures in them was similar to arrangements found among the mid-century cycles. The ceiling in the sacristy of San Sebastiano, painted in 1555 by Veronese (pi. 43), seems to reproduce the pattern of the ceiling formerly in the Palazzo Corner. The soffitto in the nave of San Sebastiano (pi. 48) repeats the system of the ceiling formerly in Santo Spirito. The designs of the two vanished ceilings were presumably owed to the architects working in each building at the time the sofiitti were made—Michele Sanmicheli in the Palazzo Corner andjacopo Sansovino in Santo Spirito. Both were trained in central Italy and therefore were familiar with the Roman system of vault articulation that lies behind the later, mid-century ceilings. It is possible to carry the argument a step further in the case of Sansovino. The ceiling of the reading room in his Library of St. Mark (pi. 54) is a typical member of this group. Although curved and therefore a false vault rather than a ceiling (Sansovino had encountered difficulties in building a true vault), it is decorated with carved compartments and illusionistic paintings in the manner of a painted ceiling. The compartments are enclosed in raised, linked frames like 61

62 63

The arguments are set forth in the entry for Catalogue

64

„ , „ Catalogue nos. 8, 15. Catalogue no. 19.

65

Catalogue no. 18. B

66

Catalogue no. 33.

19

Catalogue nos. 35-37.

Introduction the other ceilings of the decade. Similar compartment schemes were used by Sansovino in masonry architecture, for instance in the vaults of the Library's staircase and-ground floor arcade and in the vestibule of the Villa Garzoni at Pontecasale.67 It seems not at all unlikely that he would have used the same system in the ceiling of Santo Spirito in Isola. With the introduction of a Roman compartment system and historiated illusionistic paintings, the Venetian painted ceiling was transformed almost beyond recognition. The flat expanse of small-scale paintings and ornament that had been the rule at the turn of the century had become a richly articulated, plastic, and monumental compartment scheme, housing dramatically enacted narratives. W e have seen that the compartment system was classical in origin. It is likely also that the illusionism of the paintings had an antique meaning in the eyes of sixteenth-century artists. Illusionistic vault or ceiling decorations are admittedly an exception in antiquity. The known vault decorations that in some way suggest an extension of space are very few. Furthermore, they make no use of perspective foreshortening. There is, for instance, a sculptured Apotheosis of the Divus Titus in the vault of the Arch of Titus at Rome (fig. 8), which seems to occupy a sort of window in the coffering. 68 The Rape of Ganymede originally painted in the center of the entrance vault of Nero's Golden House was set in the open sky, as if directly behind the vault.69 But in both cases the forms are flatly distended on the surface of the vault, without di sotto in sü foreshortening. On the other hand, a strong tradition of perspective illusionism existed in ancient mural painting.70 It was well known to sixteenth-century artists from monuments then excavated, and sketchbooks of the time are full of copies of Second Style and later decorations that portray imaginary vistas into non-existent buildings, gardens, and doorways. Perspective illusionism was in fact so all-pervasive a motive in Roman interiors that Renaissance artists must have considered it an antique motive in any context, even on vaults and ceilings. The classicizing forms which they reproduced in illusionistic vault decorations of the fifteenth and early sixteenth century seem to say as much. Mantegna's frescoes in the Camera degli Sposi cover the vault with a system of classical moldings, medallions, and reliefs that suggests some kind of domical structure open to the sky through an oculus (fig. 7). 71 Around the 67 Illustrated, respectively, in F. Sapori, Jacopo Tattidettoil Sansovino, R o m e , 1 9 2 9 , pis. 94 and 97, and B . Rupprecht, " D i e Villa Garzoni des J . Sansovino," Mitteilungen des

70 F. W i r t h , Römische Wandmalerei, Berlin, 1 9 3 4 ; H . G . Beyen, Die Pompejanische Wanddekoration, T h e Hague, 1 9 3 8 - 1 9 6 0 (in progress).

Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, X I , 1 9 6 3 , 1 1 , fig. 7. 68 E . Nash, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London/ N e w Y o r k , I, 1 9 6 1 , 1 3 3 .

71 T h e most recent and most sumptuously illustrated publication is b y L . Coletti, La Camera degli Sposi del Mantegna a Mantova, Milan, 1959. T h e comparison w i t h a R o m a n dome

69 F. W e e g e , " D a s Goldene Haus des N e r o , " Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Institutes, X X V I I I , 1 9 1 3 , 1 7 6 .

is due to A . F. Blunt, "Illusionistic Decoration in Central Italian Painting" (see n. 8), 3 1 1 .

20

Introduction opening stand and play foreshortened figures, w h o peer into the room below. T h e dome o f San Francesco at Mantua, painted b y a follower o f Mantegna sometime after 1487 and destroyed in the Second W o r l d W a r , was decorated with ranks o f imaginary, interlocking circular compartments that rose toward a medallion-shaped field at the top. In it hovered a half-length figure o f Christ (fig. 5) that recalled the hovering figure o f the Divus Titus in the Arch o f Titus at R o m e . 7 2 Melozzo's better-known dome frescoes o f the early 1490's, formerly in the Cappella Feo o f San Biagio at Forli and also destroyed in the Second W o r l d W a r , used a basically similar scheme o f square and hexagonal coffers topped by a circular glory o f cherub heads. Around the base sat figures o f kings and prophets. 73 In all three cases the system o f the decorations was clearly meant to reproduce an ancient R o m a n coffered dome, ending at the top in an open oculus. Figures occupy these structures presumably because the empty prospects o f R o m a n architectural fantasies were inconceivable to quattrocento minds, and are foreshortened because both logic and the artistic challenge o f the situation invited it, even though an ancient precedent for doing so was lacking. Michelangelo in the Sistine Ceiling turned the development onto new paths when he made use o f the illusionistic metaphor as a means o f dramatizing figure action and heightening its expressive force. His ceiling is quite unclassical and so are the vault schemes o f Correggio and Pordenone, w h o follow in his footsteps. But Raphael continued to draw his illusionistic motives from classical sources. The painted hangings on the ceiling o f 1519 in the Farnesina, for instance, imitate the painted velaria o f R o m a n decorations, while the foreshortened trellis structures that support them are drawn f r o m stuccoes such as those formerly in the entrance lunettes o f the Colosseum. 7 4 Although perspective illusionism was not used for vault decoration in antiquity, the context in which it appears in the Renaissance does therefore suggest that it was conceived as a classical motive at the time. T h e same value must have been placed upon it at Venice. T h e ceiling at San Sebastiano with which our examination began thus represents not just a simple adaptation o f central Italian masonry and fresco schemes to Venetian tastes and needs, but rather a reformation o f the city's traditional carved and painted ceilings in the image o f a classical stucco and fresco vault. T h e same is true o f the other ceilings o f the 1550's in the Ducal Palace and the Library, as well as o f the earlier soffitti o f Titian and Vasari. 72 E. Marani and C. Perina, Mantova: Le arti, II, Datt'inizio del secolo XV alia metci del XVI, Mantua [Istituto Carlo d'Arco per la Storia di Mantova], 1,1961,95-96, 322-326.

" R . Buscaroli, Melozzo ia Fori), R o m e , 1938, 103-106 (illus.).

21

74 Some of the vaults in the Domus Aurea that were known in the sixteenth century contain velaria; H. Weege, "Das Goldene Haus des Nero," figs. 15, 75-76. Cf. also A. F. Blunt, "fllusionistic Decoration," 322. For the stuccoes of the Colosseum, see N . Dacos, "Les stucs du Colisee," Latomus, XXI, 1962, 334-355-

II The number of painted ceilings erected in churches and public buildings during the i55o's is an index of the quick success of the new fashion in mid-century Venice. The soffitti painted during the 1540's by Vasari and Titian and by younger artists like Tintoretto had numbered a half a dozen, including those executed for private houses but now surviving only in the form of separated pictures. The count rises to twice as many in the i55o's, when the six ceilings in the Ducal Palace, Libreria, and San Sebastiano were built and at least six other cycles were executed for private houses by artists like Bonifazio, Schiavone, Tintoretto, and Veronese. The ceilings of the 1550's show a much larger repertoire of compositional formulae than their predecessors. Furthermore, they established the painted sofiitto at Venice as a vehicle for elaborate allegorical statements. Pordenone in the Sala dello Scrutinio of the Ducal Palace had painted "many moral virtues."75 We cannot be certain what this means; the cycle may have been no more than a series of personifications of conventional virtues such as Vasari painted for the Palazzo Corner. Even this would have been a decoration somewhat out of the ordinary in the Ducal Palace. Virtues were represented on the outside of the building, in the sculptures of the ground-floor capitals and the Porta della Carta.76 Indoors they were rare before the later sixteenth century. In the Magistrate del Proprio hung the Justice triptych of Jacobello del Fiore, now at the Accademia, and a few similar representations may have existed in other magistratures and been lost. But generally through the first half of the sixteenth century the interior decorations consisted of commemorative, devotional, or historical pictures. In the offices were representations of the lion of St. Mark, portraits of past office holders, and votive paintings of Biblical scenes, Christ, the Virgin, and saints.77 In the Sala del Maggior Consiglio the head end of the room was covered with a vast fresco of the Coronation of the Virgin and the walls with scenes (largely fabulous) of Venice's peacemaking actions in the twelfth-century struggle " Catalogue no. 89. " Described by G. Lorenzetti, Venezia e il suo estuario, Venice/Florence, 1927, 232-234; second edition, Rome, 1956, 235-239. " The Justice triptych is illustrated by S. Moschini Marconi, Le Gallerie dell'Accademia ài Venezia: Opere d'arte dei secoli XIV e XV, Rome, 1955, no. 26. It and a handful of devotional paintings from the fifteenth and early sixteenth century are listed in the magistratures of the Ducal Palace by M. Boschini, Le minere della pittura, Venice, 1664, 62-74

22

(idem, Le ricche minere della pittura veneziana, Venice, 1674, San Marco, 48-58). But most of the decorations from before the Cinquecento reconstruction and refurbishment of the building had by then disappeared. An idea of their character may be gained from the decorations of the magistratures in the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi on the Rialto, which retained their early sixteenth-century form until the fall of the Republic; cf. G. Ludwig, "Bonifazio dei Pitati, eine archivalische Untersuchung," iii, Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, XXIII, 1902, 36-63.

Introduction between Frederick Barbarossa and Pope Alexander III.78 The mid-sixteenth-century ceilings in the rooms of the Council of Ten and the Libreria di San Marco instead make use of humanist allegory for their subject matter. Classical gods and virtues, and also an occasional mediaeval personification, appear in combinations that act out elaborate allegorical conceits illustrating the political program of the Republic. Mythological allegory makes its first appearance in the major arts at Florence during the last quarter of the fifteenth century.79 By the i49o's north Italian painters were producing such allegories too. But through the first quarter of the sixteenth century, in northern Italy as in Florence, it was only a small circle of educated patrons who ordered such works, Isabella d'Este and Federigo Gonzaga at Mantua, Alfonso d'Este at Ferrara, and patrician villa owners on the Venetian terraferma.80 At Venice in the 1550's the genre became a medium of state propaganda, and the ceilings of the Ducal Palace and the Libreria use mythological allegory to proclaim the strength and virtues of the government and the culture of the ruling nobility. The central representation in the Audience Room of the Council of Ten shows Jove showering thunderbolts upon a tumbling horde of crimes, describing therewith the Council's function to seek out and punish offenses against the state (pi. 21). At the sides Mars and Neptune attend on Venice to represent the naval and military strength of the state (pi. 25), Juno showers riches over Venice to describe her wealth (pi. 22), and Liberty gazes upward at the heaven of the just to express the thought that Venetian liberty is the fruit of constant effort and dedication by individual men (pi. 24).81 In the private chamber of the Council Heads the centerpiece of the ceiling shows Time comforting Truth and Innocence praying for deliverance as St. Michael's defeat of the Evil One scatters a murderous crew of lesser evils below (pi. 39). The allusion is once more to the policing powers of the Council.82

7 8 T h e original decoration o f the Sala del M a g g i o r C o n siglio was described b y F. Sansovino, Venetia cittì nobilissima descritta in XIIII libri, Venice, 1581, 123V.-132V. C f . also F. WickhofF, " D e r Saal des Grossen Rathes z u V e n e d i g in seinem alten S c h m u c k e , " Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, V I , 1883, 1 - 3 7 .

(J. W a l k e r , Bellini and Titian at Ferrara, L o n d o n , 1956). Giulio R o m a n o gratified Federigo Gonzaga's dreams o f p o w e r in fresco cycles at the Palazzo del T e and the D u c a l Palace o f Mantua (F. Hartt, Giulio Romano, N e w Haven, 1958, I, 105-182; and his " G o n z a g a S y m b o l s in the Palazzo del T e , " Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, XIII, 1950, 151-188). Veronese, Zelotti, and a host o f other artists covered the walls o f Venetian villas w i t h allegorical fresco cycles, beginning in the iS4o's, w h i c h celebrate the arts, love, and virtue in complicated programs not f u l l y elucidated to this day (L. Crosato, Gli affreschi nelle ville venete del cinquecento, Treviso, 1962).

7 9 A . Chastel, Art et humanisme à Florence au temps de Laurent le Magnißque, Paris, 1959, 168-177. C f . also J. Seznec, The Survival of the Pagan Gods, N e w Y o r k , 1953, 9 5 - 1 1 6 . 8 0 Mantegna, Costa, and Perugino painted a series o f such allegories f o r the studiolo o f Isabella d'Este ( R . Förster, " S t u d i e n z u Mantegna und den Bildern i m Studierzimmer der Isabella G o n z a g a , " ii, Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, X X I I , 1901, 154-180; cf. also E. W i n d , Bellini's "Feast of the Gods," Cambridge, Mass., 1948). Titian, Bellini, and Dosso Dossi illustrated Renaissance l o v e theory f o r A l f o n s o d'Este's alabaster chambers in the Castle o f Ferrara

8 1 For a full list o f the subjects represented, see C a t a l o g no. 35. T h e program, w h i c h has never been f u l l y explained, was devised b y the learned cleric and amateur o f art and architecture, Daniele Barbaro. 82

23

C f . Catalogue no. 37.

Introduction Here in these soffitti a younger generation of artists with more avowedly central Italian tastes set their minds to the problems of ceiling painting. Most of their pictures are based on Titian's ceiling paintings of the 1540's. The scenes are set on strips of ground or cloud, and the figures are shown in twisting poses suggestive of volume. As in Titian's paintings a ground plane is observed from which the volumes swell forward like relief and which is the source of a combined spatial and decorative unity. But movement is generally more energetic than in Titian's paintings, and modeling is stronger, sometimes to the point that figures and compositions seem perilously close to detaching themselves formally from their neighbors and their settings. Veronese's painting of Youth and Age in the Audience Room of the Council of Ten (pi. 23) and his two Allegories in the private chamber of the Council Heads (pis. 40-41) are typical examples of this kind of composition. Occasionally a different compositional type is found. In Veronese's paintings of Juno Showering Riches over Venice, in the Audience Room of the Council of Ten (pi. 22), and St. Mark Crowning the Theological Virtues, formerly in the Council's Antechamber (pi. 36), the upper figures are less abruptly foreshortened than those at the bottom of the field. The difference allows for the fact that the ceilings of both rooms are low and that therefore the beholder must tip his head further and further as he seeks to raise his glance in each picture. By the time he reaches the top of a field his line of sight is meeting the canvas at almost a right angle and he is seeing the pictured world not obliquely but straight on. But the difference of projections also provides a means of showing strongly sculptural and foreshortened figures in a seeming worm's-eye view, while at the same time avoiding the representation of any sizable recession. Veronese no doubt observed the device in Giulio Romano's Sala di Troia at Mantua (fig. 17), where the fighting men in the coves of the vault are viewed from below and the gods in the flat pan above from eye level.83 Each of Veronese's collaborators imitated this disjointed construction once, Ponchino in the Mercury and Peace of the Audience Room (pi. 27) and Zelotti in the centerpiece of the private chamber of the Council Heads (pi. 39). But the remainder of their pictures are composed as unified relief systems. Tintoretto does not appear in these collaborative cycles, but he also had his share of experimentation, as we know from the handful of his ceiling paintings of the 1540's and 83 Veronese's debt to Giulio is also apparent in other early interior decorations, such as the vanished frescoes of 1551 in the Villa Soranzo and the existing murals of 1558 in San Sebastiano in Venice, where the younger artist not only adopted the illusionistic metaphor and the playfulness characteristic of Giulio, but also used individual motives from the

latter's repertoire, such as daringly foreshortened balustrades and twisted columns. For the balustrades, see the description in C . Rjdolfi, Le maraviglie dell'arte, ed. D. von Hadeln, Berlin, 1914-1924, I, 302. The San Sebastiano frescoes are illustrated by T. Pignatti, Le pitture di Paolo Veronese nella chiesa di S. Sebastiano di Venezia, Milan, 1966.

24

Introduction 1550's that still survive. The compositions range in technique from a complete avoidance of illusionism to willful exacerbation of its discomforts and aesthetic affronts. A painting of Apollo and Marsyas now in Hartford, Connecticut, has the irregular format of a compartment and matches in subject matter and date the painting Tintoretto produced in 1545 for a ceiling in Pietro Aretino's house.84 But from its style we should not recognize it as a soffitto picture (pi. 10). The scene is viewed from eye level and not from below, and the arrangement of the figures, description of recession, palette, and technique are all of the most painterly kind. One is tempted to conclude that the picture was not even intended for a Venetian style soffitto but rather for a cen tral Italian decoration made up of quadri riportati, that is, seeming easel paintings arranged in separate frames upon a ceiling. In other paintings of the same decade Tintoretto's approach is quite the reverse. For instance, a pair of mythological scenes in the Contini Bonacossi collection at Florence shows a daring attempt to play off surface forms against receding forms in a manner that exploits the potential conflict between them for its tension.85 Both pictures have been made up into rectangles from elongated octagons. The Venus and Adonis has been clumsily restored as well, giving its figures a Jin de siècle kind of elegance. But the other picture, Athena and Arachne, retains a good deal of its original quality and shows quite clearly how the artist pitted receding forms against surface forms (pi. 9). Arachne is shown working at her loom, with Athena sitting opposite her on a stool. The loom forms a cage of receding beams and rollers that seemingly marks out an abrupt and measurable recession. But the rear corners and the ends of the structure are masked, leaving only one clear guide to depth, the harnesses and roller at the center. These however, as they drop away into shadow, meet up sharply with the brightly Ut knee of Athena at the very front of the picture. Both Tintoretto and Veronese seem to have found their final approach to the problem of ceiling painting only in the mid-1550's. In the San Sebastiano ceiling of 1556 and the Libreria roundels of 1556-1557, Veronese developed a free relief composition that in its perfected form remained the mainstay of his production until his death in 1588. Tintoretto in a private commission of about 1556 began to show an episodic rather than a continuous space. From the 1560's through the 1580's he constantly extended the capacity of such schemes to describe volume and recession while at the same time presenting to the eye a harmonious surface pattern. B y the time of his death in 1594 he had become capable of portraying an almost baroque degree of movement, depth, and volume in his ceiling paintings, without in any 84

85

Catalogue no. 46.

25

Catalogue no. 56.

Introduction way abandoning the ideal of decorative unity traditional in Venetian ceilings from the earliest times. In Veronese's paintings for San Sebastiano we have already had a glimpse of the latter's new style in ceiling paintings. The forms of a scene like the Triumph of Mordecai (pi. 51) are relief forms, that is, they swell forward from a seemingly flat ground in progressively higher and higher relief. However, the depth of relief is not linked to the distance of the forms represented, as it is in classical relief, where depth of carving increases in direct proportion to nearness. Haman's left arm, for instance, is pressed back into a seeming ground plane while the head of the horse above it and the torso of the twisting man beside it are shown in bulging high relief. The function of relief is decorative rather than naturalistic, to obtain a rhythmic articulation of the surface, as in contemporary mannerist relief sculpture of central Italy (fig. 25). In the allegories of the same years at the Libreria di San Marco we meet the system again. A composition such as Honor (pi. 62) is built around three centers of plastic interest which, though not equidistant from the front, are equally strongly modeled: the woman and man at the sides and the knee of the presiding figure at the top. Veronese came with time to prefer heavier and more animated figures, but the basic construction remained unaltered. In the grandiose paintings of about 1566 from the ceiling of the now demolished Jesuit church of Venice, Santa Maria dell'Umiltà (pis. 68-70) 86 the figures move more freely and excitedly. The action now extends over the full height of the canvases, and unstinting use is made for the first time of heavy architectural settings to frame the scenes and give them a more monumental appearance. Greater richness, movement, and drama were the artist's aims, and he was no doubt in part inspired by the new emotionalism of the contemporary work of Tintoretto. But the heightened sensations of depth and volume latent in such forms were carefully kept in check. The leading actors of all three scenes remain at the very front. Proportions and shapes were adjusted in the architectural settings so as to blur the effects of recession. In the Annunciation, for instance, the rising face of the rear wall seems not to follow a true vertical because it lacks a continuous vertical edge and because the entablature over the arch breaks so far forward. In the Assumption upright piers to either side of the stairs are continued by an inclined coping on the staircase balustrade, whereby the rising vertical of the piers is interrupted and deflected into an optical sequence of forms. With time Veronese returned to a less excited treatment of narrative subjects. But he did not abandon the breadth of composition or the architectural contrivance that were seen in the Umiltà paintings. The spreading of the action over the whole height of the canvas can be 86

Catalogue no. 14.

26

Introduction found again, for instance, in the mutilated picture of about 1570 of Ceres Before Venice, Peace, and Hercules, once part of a ceiling in the offices of the Magistrato alle Biade at the Ducal Palace and now at the Accademia (pi. 72). 87 Plausible architectural settings that lack nothing in richness but convey little sense of space occur in the ceiling paintings of 1575-1578 for the Sala del Collegio in the same building (pis. 73-77). 8 8 These devices remained a part of Veronese's normal practice in ceiling painting to the end of his life. The ceiling of the Sala del Collegio was commissioned to replace decorations destroyed in the first of two great fires that visited the Ducal Palace in the sixteenth century, the fire of 1574. Veronese painted for it three large allegories of the Republic's might, piety, and justice, eight smaller, irregularly shaped pictures of the virtues that are required for and fostered by good government, and six even smaller, monochrome representations of classical and Biblical events exemplary of them. The free relief groupings he devised have by now an almost audacious ease and inventiveness. In the Mars and Neptune (pi. 74) the two gods sit casually at the bottom of the picture, together with the lion of St. Mark. Behind them, at some indeterminate distance, can be seen the tops of the Campanile and a galleon's masts, which identify the site as Venice. In front of and above the figure of Mars we see the head of his horse. Higher still, where clouds and open sky suggest an infinite recession, putti bearing a shell and helmet flutter in the air close to the picture's surface. Clearly some kind of common ground plane lies behind the forms and holds them all together. But the degree to which they rise away from it varies from one motive to the next without reference to supposed locations in space. The flying putti, Mars's torso, and almost the whole of the figure of Neptune are very firmly modeled, but the cannon and the horse's head hardly at all, though both are nearer to the front. The effect is a simple pattern of troughs and crests that has perfect balance but no depth. The forms appear so negligendy placed and seem to fit so effortlessly into the system that one hardly suspects the calculation which must have gone into the scene. The famous Apotheosis of Venice which Veronese painted in 1579-1582 for the Sala del Maggior Consiglio is a similar composition but on a vastly larger scale (pi. 105). It is part of a ceiling built to replace a fifteenth-century coffered ceiling that was destroyed by the fire of 1577, the second of the sixteenth-century fires in the Ducal Palace.89 Designed by the Veronese architect, engineer, and cartographer, Cristoforo Sorte, it is a ponderous, involuted system of crossing frames and heavy carvings (pi. 102) that marks the high point in the 87 88

89

Catalogue no. 39. Catalogue no. 41.

27

Catalogue no. 42.

Introduction development of an atectonic, mannerist style of ceiling articulation, a development to which w e shall return. Its fifty-seven paintings were planned in detail by a learned Camaldolese monk and two members of the Great Council to form, together with the paintings on the walls and those of the adjoining Sala dello Scrutinio, the most complete record possible of the R e public's victories, heroes, and virtues. The work was parceled out among nine different artists. Tintoretto, Veronese, and Palma Giovane were the most favored, each being given one of the three colossal pictures in the middle of the ceiling and two or more of the battle pieces at the sides. The scheme called for small, monochrome representations of famous acts of heroism by Venetians, twelve large canvases showing Venetian victories in contests with other Italian rulers and the Turks, and three enormous centerpieces with crowded allegories glorifying the might, benevolence, and felicity of the Republic. The modello for Veronese's allegory of the Apotheosis of Venice survives in the collection of the Earl of Harewood (fig. 88). Differences between it and the final painting are few, but they offer valuable insight into Veronese's methods and aims. The architecture was drawn first, with pen and wash, ruler, and compass. The figures, the ideas for which must have been fixed first in rapid, nervous pen sketches such as still survive from some of his other commissions, were drawn over the architecture with brush and body color. On the vast scale demanded by the painting (it measures just short of thirty by twenty feet) the design of the modello did require modification. In the final painting (pi. 105) the foreground figures below the balustrade bulk less large. The most plastic motive among them, the horse on the right, has been turned somewhat further into the plane. Props and figures have been multiplied everywhere, the architectural detail has been made more complex, and the effect of the whole enriched. At the top two fictive statues have been added to the structure and a sprig of foliage introduced to limit the recession. O f the most important changes, one was made on the modello itself. The semicircle of the big arch was raised. Later, in the painting, the imaginary structure of which it is part was made correspondingly more shallow. In fact, the arch in the final version is almost invisible behind the clouds and has no space-creating depth at all. T w o battle scenes by Veronese adjoin the oval, the Attack on Smyrna and Repulse of the Turkish Attack on Scutari (pi. 1 1 1 ) . Like all the lateral representations of the ceiling, they are designed to be seen with one's back to the principal paintings. They are therefore treated as entirely independent compositions. They were a considerable novelty in ceiling painting, for both seek to represent a continuous landscape recession in the conventional di sotto in su projection. Perhaps Veronese was inspired by the deep spaces which Tintoretto represented 28

Introduction in the ceiling paintings for the Upper Hall of the Scuola di San Rocco, completed only a few years before, but he reached for a different compositional formula than the latter's steeply rising hillsides. In Veronese's paintings the ground behind the picture plane slopes away to reveal a distant, receding landscape seen from above. The spectator is imagined to be standing on a hilltop from which he looks onto the panorama below. The composition is a transposition to ceiling painting of a familiar scheme of northern mannerist landscapes. Examples of the latter were certainly known to Veronese, since Flemish painters specializing in landscape were established in and around Venice, for example, Pauwels Franck (Paolo de' Franceschi) and Lodewyck Toeput (Lodovico Pozzoserrato).90 The break between fore- and background in such a scheme made it particularly suitable for ceiling painting because it left the precise depth of the recession unclear. In the Scutari painting the recession moves back to the very horizon, where it ends in a ridge of mountains that drops off to the right in a manner anticipating the familiar diagonal composition of Dutch seventeenth-century landscape painting. In this way the eye is returned to the surface, for the prominent action on the right takes place in the foreground of the scene. Tintoretto developed his own characteristic formula for ceiling painting in the same years as Veronese—that is, the mid-1550's—but as part of a wider change in his style. During the preceding decade he had been struggling to master the rational organization of spaces and volumes of central Italian High Renaissance painting. He produced such works as the Miracle of St. Mark of 1548, now in the Accademia, the first example in Venetian painting of a stage space, and the contemporary Lamentation from Santa Maria dell'Umiltà, now also in the Accademia, conceived as a classical relief composition.91 B y the mid-1550's, however, he had begun to break free of the logic of these carefully composed spaces and masses and to strive for free groupings in the manner of Michelangelo's Last Judgment and the midcentury Florentines. Tintoretto's major works of the period are his great choir paintings of the Adoration of the Golden Ca/fand the Last Judgment in Santa Maria dell'Orto. 92 Here the figures no longer inhabit a rationally constructed, continuous recession. B y their twisting movements and reaching gestures they create individual pools of space, linked decoratively by apparent spatial axes and connections on the picture surface, but not connected logically as parts of one consistent spatial system. 90 For examples of their work, see A. R . Peltzer, "Die Niederländisch-venezianische Landschaftsmalerei," Münchner Jahrbuch für bildende Kunst, N.F., I, 1924, 126-153. A monographic study of Pozzoserrato has been published by L. Menegazzi, "Lodovico Pozzoserrato," Saggi e Memorie di Storia

dell'Arte, I, 1957, 167-223. " E. von der Bercken, Die Gemälde des Jacopo Tintoretto, Munich, 1942, Cat. nos. 41, 2 1 7 (illus.). 92

29

Ibid., Cat. nos. 343, 344 (illus.).

Introduction Tintoretto seems to have applied this new style to ceiling painting contemporaneously in An Allegory of Dreams of about 1556, formerly in the house o f the Barbo in Venice and now in Detroit (pi. 80).93 The figures in the foreground, in the sky, and in the rear do not occupy different zones o f one coherent, continuous space, but form a series o f independent sequences into depth. They are connected by overlapping gestures, directed gazes, surface alignments, and patterns o f light and shade. Like the variable viewpoint compositions o f Veronese, the effect is that depth has been suggested but not described. Tintoretto's handling o f plasticity even emphasizes the surface. The distant figures are faded in form and color by aerial perspective and have no sculptural weight to speak of. The foreground figures, while strongly modeled, are shown in flattened poses that he parallel to the canvas and generate no movement into depth. In his easel paintings o f the 1550's, Tintoretto had introduced not only a new manner o f organizing space, but also a new figure style depending on heavy body types, twisting movements, and three-quarter poses. 94 N o t long after, the figure style made an entry into his ceiling paintings as well. It can be seen in the centerpiece o f the little soffitto o f about 1562 in the Atrio Dorato or Salotto Quadrato o f the Ducal Palace, the entrance atrium o f the suite o f state rooms on the palace's top floor (pi. 82).95 But here the plasticity o f the motives is limited. Only limbs and surfaces toward the front are fully modeled; those leading to the rear fade into flat shadows. Moreover, the forward forms are all modeled with equal strength, regardless o f their distance from the beholder. The effect is very similar to that o f Veronese's free relief compositions, although a continuous ground plane is missing. Space and relief are episodic rather than continuous. Unity, such as it is, is established entirely by decorative means: by the insistent verticals and diagonals o f the forms; by the limited palette which is restricted to tones o f blue and gold-brown, recalling the traditional blue and gold color scheme o f coffered ceilings; and by the harmonious response o f the surface pattern to the octagonal shape o f the frame. The striving for plastic force is even more apparent in the Apotheosis of St. Roch o f 1564, the centerpiece o f the ceiling in the Albergo or Governors' R o o m o f the Confraternity o f St. R o c h (pi. 85).96 The subject was a narrative, prescribed by the confraternity, and Tintoretto dramatized it as much as he could, creating both in form and content a far more forceful composition than the Ducal Palace picture. He used an unusually steep di sotto in sit projection, Catalogue no. 47 in the present book. Cf. the choir paintings in Santa Maria delTOrto men.. . 1 rri,., . ., , . . tioned above, and the Healmg of the Lame Man of 1559 in the church of San Rocco; von der Bercken, Die Gemälde, Cat.

nos. 343, 344, 358 (illus.). .. , , „ . „ • »5 Catalogue no. 38 m the present book,

93

54

«6 Catalogue no. 28.

30

Introduction conveying an exciting sensation of height and creating sharp foreshortenings that emphasize the corporeality of the forms. He exaggerated the contrast of light and shade, giving the effect o f a dazzling brightness and further heightening the sculptural quality of the figures. Movements and gestures are more vehement than in the earlier painting. In the figure of God the Father he borrowed the motive o f the Eternal upborne by angels as it appeared in the agitated dome decorations of Pordenone, at the church o f San Rocco and elsewhere. 97 The emotionalism recalls Tintoretto's paintings o f twenty years before, and in fact a revival of strong feeling seems to be a general phenomenon in his work of the early 1560's. There is a similar vehemence, for instance, in the three Miracles of St. Mark, painted between 1563 and about 1565 for the Scuola di San Marco, one now in the Brera in Milan and the others in the Accademia in Venice. 98 But despite the boldness of the composition, the striving to meet the decorative requirements o f ceiling painting was at work even here. It is only the forward sides of the figures that are clearly modeled. Fleeing surfaces are hardly to be found. The most distant form, St. Roch's head, is set opposite the nearest form, the head of God the Father. The angels are arranged in an oval file that follows the outline o f the field. The small personifications of virtues and titular saints of the five other Scuole Grandi, or major confraternities, of Venice are less excited in their compositions (pis. 86-88). The difference reflects not a different moment of Tintoretto's development but a difference in scale, content, and position on the ceiling. Being smaller, nondramatic, and part o f the soffitto's decorative outer frieze, the figures invited a calmer treatment. This constant sensitivity to setting is strikingly demonstrated in a group of pictures which Tintoretto executed in or just before 1576 for the ceiling of the Retrostanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Died in the Ducal Palace.99 The room is extremely small and the ceiling very low. In its central representation of the Return of the Prodigal Son Tintoretto made use therefore of a more or less orthodox relief composition such as one associates with Veronese (pi. 90). That he did so for reasons of the site can be seen by comparing the Prodigal Son with the paintings of the huge and very high ceiling in the Upper Hall o f the Confraternity o f St. Roch, where Tintoretto was far freer in his compositions and carried on directly from the style of the paintings of a decade earlier in the Albergo.

« Illustrated in G. Fiocco, Il Pordenone, Padua, Z I943, pis. 72, 141, 166. See also J. Schulz, "Pordenone's Cupolas," Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Art Presented to Anthony Blunt, London, 1967, 44-50.

98 V o n der Bercken, Die Gemälde, Cat. no. 143, 831, 832 (illus.). 9 9 Catalogue no. 40 in the present book. T h e room is also k n o w n as the Sala degli Inquisitori di Stato.

31

Introduction The Upper Hall of the Scuola di San Rocco, in ceiling painting as in mural narrative, is perhaps the most impressive achievement of the artist's whole career. 100 The decoration was entirely his own creation (pis. 92-101). One by one, beginning in the summer of 1575, he offered to execute the needed paintings at cost. In the process it was he himself who evolved the program for the representations. The first picture he offered to paint was the centerpiece of the ceiling, and the subject he chose was the Brazen Serpent. This scene has been considered the Old Testament parallel or type of the Crucifixion since the beginning of Christianity, and Tintoretto probably chose it as an introduction to the Passion cycle in the Albergo at the end of the Hall. A year later, as the Brazen Serpent neared completion, he offered to paint the other two principal fields of the ceiling and chose for subjects the Rock ofHoreb and Rain of Manna. In typological interpretations of the Bible the former is a prefigurement of the sacrament of baptism, and both scenes are types of the blood that flowed from the wound in the side of the crucified Christ and of the Eucharist. It may be that Tintoretto was still thinking in terms of a typological introduction to the paintings in the Albergo. In this case an allusion to the Eucharist would have served as a prophetic indication of the spiritual sustenance Christ's sacrifice had obtained for mankind. However, within two months Tintoretto made still another offer. He declared himself ready to paint all the remaining pictures of the ceiling. B y this time he must have conceived the idea of an entire cycle of Old Testament scenes such as he painted in the end. When, late in 1577, he was completing this cycle, he made a final offer. He would paint at his own expense and at the rate of three pictures per year the ten scenes on the walls and all further works the Scuola might require. He asked in return an annual pension of one hundred ducats. It was then that he painted the ten wall paintings of the N e w Testament antitypes to the ceiling scenes. Although the plan evolved only slowly in the artist's mind, both thematically and formally the decoration is surprisingly coherent in its final form. The pictures divide into three groups that portray three different kinds of deliverance: deliverance from thirst, from hunger, and from death. On one level these correspond to the three corporal acts of mercy which inspired the Confraternity's charitable activities—to give drink to the thirsty, to feed the hungry, and to visit the sick. But on a higher level they also represent the spiritual succor given by the divine gifts of water and bread, and for the deliverance from eternal, spiritual death that these obtain. 1 0 1 The paintings beside the Moses Striking Waterfront the Rock of Horeb and on the walls directly below it represent events that in age-old Christian symbolism stand for the sacrament of baptism and for the cleansing from sin which baptism brings. At the other end 100

101

Catalogue no. 29.

32

The scheme is explained at length in Catalogue no. 29.

Introduction of the hall, in the Rain of Manna and around it and on the walls below, are scenes that symbolize or illustrate the life-giving sacrament of the Eucharist. Finally, the central representation of the Brazen Serpent and the scenes around and below it represent that victory over death which proceeds from the state of grace conferred by the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. The only painting that seemingly falls outside the scheme is the Fall of Man at the very beginning of the cycle. It represents the felix culpa, the introduction of sin into the world by which was set in motion the work of salvation pictured all about the room. Tintoretto's excited vision of the different scenes is responsible for direct bonds between the many paintings. The same dramatic contrasts of light and shade, the same impetuous motion appears in all the scenes. They serve not only to heighten the emotional impact of the narrative, but also to create relationships that extend outside the individual pictures and link them decoratively on the plane of the ceiling. The repetitive glitter of brilliant highlights over the whole of the ceiling has a unifying effect similar to a material uniformity of texture and palette. The swaying movements of the figures in any one scene set off rhythmic echoes in all the neighboring compositions on the ceiling. For instance, in the Rock of Horeb, the principal painting in the first bay of the ceiling (pi. 94), almost all the figures incline pronouncedly to left and right. The two directions and even the angles of inclination are repeated in the figures of the oval scenes above, below, and to the side. Only the Moses in the oval of the Crossing of the Red Sea is an exception and stands erect. However, in pose and gesture he resembles the Moses of the central painting of the Brazen Serpent, and thus the principle of repetition is even here preserved. Similar correspondences and countercorrespondences can be traced over the whole length and breadth of the ceiling. Within the individual pictures Tintoretto represented scenes of a spaciousness unparalleled in earlier ceiling painting. The high horizons and stepped arrangements of the settings create the illusion of a rising hillside when populated with the artist's characteristic plunging and turning figures. In the Brazen Serpent (pi. 95) a piece of ground reaching to the midpoint of the canvas is dotted with the struggling victims of the plague of serpents. At the top are Moses and the Serpent of Brass. Above them appears God the Father amid a host of angels. Contrasts of scale and distinctness in adjoining figures, and linear sequences of figures in individually sculptural poses, give a sense of recession and make the ground appear to be a slope. However, nothing within the setting describes depth, other than the glimpse of the Israelite camp provided by a sort of peephole at the lower right. But this, by undermining the setting, undermines its internal logic as well. 33

Introduction In these pictures Tintoretto painted not only vaster settings than in his earlier ceiling decorations, but also far more plastic figures. The forcefulness of movements, the sculpturalness of individual poses, are such that many figures now suggest fully rounded forms rather than relief. In the Brazen Serpent the angels in the air and some of the foreground nudes seem to project toward the rear with the same convexity as toward the front. Each of these spiraling poses points in some direction, as if it were the start of an axis moving into depth. But by a calculated use of contrasted directions Tintoretto has set one pose against the next, and no spatial movement results. Of the angels one flies out and down, another in and up. Of the nudes on the lower left, one turns to the right and into the picture, the other to the left and out. Some of the figures almost precisely invert one another's poses, as for instance the actors of the Deliverance ofJonah (pi. 99) and Ezekiel's Vision (pi. 97). In Jacob's Dream and in the ovals of the southern (altar) end of the ceiling, the correspondences are less obvious and less explicit than in the other ovals. For this reason they should be considered perhaps as slightly later in time. In Jacob's Dream, for instance (pi. 98), Jacob leans forward and the angel at his back flies to the rear; one of the pair of angels on the stairs turns inward and the other out; and God the Father at the top is shown infinitely far away, though the ring of clouds around him is at the very front. These are veiled rather than open correspondences, but their effect is the same. The eye halts at each pair of contrasted forms, and recession thereby is broken into stages. Though Tintoretto enlarged some of the figures and the distances, his composition conveys much less of movement into depth than its prototype, the Jacob's Dream in the Raphael Logge of the Vatican. 102 In the four battle pieces which he painted in 1579-1582 for the ceiling of the redecorated Sala del Maggior Consiglio, Tintoretto did allow the figures to form axes leading into depth. 103 But he pitted one axis against the other in the same way he had pitted individual figures against each other in the Scuola di San Rocco. The Boarding of the Milanese Fleet on Lake Garda has no setting (pi. no). Only a few dramatically silhouetted masts can be seen— perhaps inspired by the silhouetted forms of Veronese's Mars and Neptune in the Sala del Collegio. The figures, swords, standards, prows, and masts are aligned on a series of contrasting axes of which one group moves inward to the left, and the other inward to the right. The two directions meet in the central figure of the swordsman holding a shield above his head. He stands on a plank leading toward the left, but reaches along and straddles a line pointing to the right. The two axes hold each other in balance and, though swift movement 102 Illustrated in G. Gronau, Raffael: Des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart/Berlin/Leipzig (Klassiker der Kunst, I), S I923, 185.

103

34

Catalogue no. 42.

Introduction into depth is suggested by each, no continuous recession is developed by either. In fact, the intersecting axes create a well-defined pattern of diagonals that binds all forms to the surface. The Defeat of the Este at Argenta and the Repulse of the Milanese Attack on Brescia (pi. 109) are composed in the same manner. In the latter Tintoretto provided a species of setting in the form of battlements and rising terraces of ground. But the actual space of the scene is suggested once more by oblique sequences of forms, two of which meet in the central figure and hold each other in check. In the colossal centerpiece of the ceiling—it measures approximately thirty-five by twenty feet—Tintoretto adapted the compositional formula of the large scenes in the Scuola di San Rocco in yet another way. The painting represents The Doge Receiving Palm and Laurel from Venice as Diverse States Render Their Spontaneous Submission to the Signoria (pis. 104, 107-108). Three-fifths of its height is taken up with a stepped setting consisting of platforms and stairs. The Doge and the Signoria stand at the top, a wedge-shaped group, closed and calm in outline. At the bottom and in the sky the scene is peopled with the familiar turning and soaring figures whose movements are balanced off against each other in groups of two and three. But the action is less agitated than in the pictures of the Scuola di San Rocco. There are no strong contrasts of scale between adjoining forms. The setting is less deep, and its many stairs and levels are made to form a linear pattern that throws the whole scene forward against the picture surface. The scheme is a decorative transposition of the Scuola di San Rocco paintings. According to Ridolfi, contemporaries did not like the painting and said it was done by rote. 104 Some modern critics have even suggested it was not by Tintoretto but by a group of younger artists mentioned by Ridolfi as defenders of the picture. But aside from the fact that none of them had served in Tintoretto's studio or otherwise been in a position to work on the commission, the painting itself does not seem as unsuccessful as this opinion would suggest. Despite the great size of the field, Tintoretto's composition can be surveyed and understood from any one spot because of the clear surface relationships between the forms. The scheme is responsive to the physical conditions of size and situation in a manner entirely characteristic of the artist. Thus, while execution of the painting was plainly left to lesser hands, namely studio assistants, the conception was surely due to Tintoretto. The fact that it became the basis of the artist's last ceiling painting argues for the same conclusion. The centerpiece of the ceiling in the Sala del Senato is a vast painting like that in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio. 105 It was painted shortly after 1587, and, again, only the conception can 104 C . Ridolfi, Le maraviglie dell'arte, ed. D . von Hadeln, Berlin, 1 9 1 4 - 1 9 2 4 , II, 47-48. See Catalogue no. 42.

105

35

Catalogue no. 43.

Introduction be due to Tintoretto, who was by then nearly eighty years old. The subject is Venice Receiving the Tribute of the Sea (pi. 123). There is no architectural setting. Tintoretto made the figures serve as the sole scaffold of the composition. They are built up all around the rim of the painting in tiers of bilaterally balanced groups. Approximately equal in size, they make no pretense of representing a recession. The effect therefore, even more than in the centerpiece of the Sala del Maggior consiglio, is that of a screen. Only in the open center of the composition do we see into the distance. A chain of Nereids and Tritons rises from the sea, bringing urns, shells, and coral. Still further away a row of divinities is placed upon a cloud bank. But the effect of these figures is to block rather than to encourage movement into depth. They fill the empty middle of the scheme and bar access to the sky and clouds beyond. Inspired partially by Tintoretto one younger artist evolved a similar compositional type during these same years: Palma Giovane. Earlier, in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, he had begun following in the older man's footsteps. 106 The tiers of figures and stairs in his large oval of Venice Enthroned Above her Conquered Provinces (pi. 103) were clearly inspired by those in Tintoretto's centerpiece in the same room. But the system is simpler and more legible and in this way is a critique of Tintoretto's picture. As is shown by the drawing in the Rudolf collection (fig. 89), 107 Palma began with a densely filled composition that interlaced the figures on the various levels in the same manner as Tintoretto's painting. A later drawing in a private collection at Milan (fig. 90) shows that he quickly reduced the scale of his figures and separated the different levels so as to clarify the structure of the composition. When he executed the painting itself he enlarged the banner and replaced an architectural screen in back of the figure of Venice with a baldachin standing on her right. Both changes serve to call attention to the front face of the scene and thus to continue the composition's surface pattern to the very top. 108 A short time later and independently of Tintoretto, Palma elaborated these rising files of figures into a transparent screen of floating bodies, as did Tintoretto afterwards in the Sala del Senato. Palma's work is now dismembered and in great part lost, but in its day it was one of the most spectacular of the Venetian Renaissance ceilings. This was the Assumption of the Virgin, formerly over the Albergo of the Scuola di San Fantin, on which Palma was working in 1582. 1 0 9 Damaged by rain water and a collapse of the building's roof, the painting was finally removed in the nineteenth century and cut into pieces. Only two fragments of it are 106

108 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 177, suggests the artist introduced the baldachin because he could not bring off successfully the architectural screen—which seems implausible, 105 Catalogue no. 23.

Catalogue no. 42. A second drawing by Palma survives from this stage at the Uffizi (no. 1869-F). It has been rejected as a copy by some writers, but unjustly so; see Catalogue no. 42, n. 28. 107

36

Introduction known today, but a record of the composition as a whole still survives in the form of the artist's modello at the Pinacoteca Querini-Stampalia in Venice (pis. 134-135 and Fig. 73). The Apostles were shown beside the tomb of the Virgin and on the steps leading up to it. God the Father, Christ, the Virgin, and the heavenly hosts were arranged above them on a series of cloud banks. Here too an architectural setting was eliminated and the structural skeleton of the composition was teased out of the arrangement of the figures themselves. The system is not one of horizontal registers but rather of concentric circles such as are common in dome frescoes. In Palma's day either of Correggio's two dome decorations in Parma or, nearer to home, Pordenone's decoration in the presbytery of the church of San Rocco may have served as model. Palma's ceiling bears comparison with frescoed vault decorations in still another respect. The canvas literally covered the entire ceiling of the room. In round figures, the Albergo measured thirty-five by fifty and the painting twenty-eight by forty-five feet. The picture thus not so much decorated as entirely replaced the ceiling, in the manner of the illusionistic vault decorations of Giulio Romano and the central Italians, which half a century before had helped to inspire Venetian sofiitto painting in the first place. But its screenlike composition and typically mild foreshortening gave a characteristic Venetian emphasis to the picture plane and surface pattern. As a result the spectator could not have received that sense of a unified, swiftly receding space replacing the original ceiling or vault which was characteristic of the fresco decorations. In actuality the ceiling hung so low that it was difficult to see it as a whole—a fact remarked by Ridolfi and most of the later critics. "This work, being too near the eye, can only be enjoyed piecemeal," he wrote, "Palma having misjudged in this matter." 1 1 0 Palma worked on a similarly grand scale several times again. For the ceiling of the rebuilt church of San Giuliano he painted in the early 1580's a huge, cruciform Apotheosis of St. Julian (pi. 137). 1 1 1 The heavenly hosts are assembled on horizontal registers of clouds that part in the center to reveal a still further zone of the empyrean, somewhat like Tintoretto's centerpiece in the Sala del Senato. The picture is approximately contemporary with Tintoretto's painting, and it is impossible to say which came first. Each artist had independently taken the first steps toward such a composition in his previous work. For the presbytery of the Cappella del Rosario in Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Palma in 1594 painted an outsized composition of the Coronation of the Virgin.112 The picture fell victim to 1,4

" o Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 178. 111 Catalogue no. 6.

37

Catalogue no. 72.

Introduction the fire o f 1867, which destroyed all the decorations o f the chapel and the works o f art collected in it. But a nineteenth-century watercolor o f the room (pi. 141) shows that Palma's painting filled the whole square ceiling o f the sanctuary in the manner o f the Assumption at the Scuola di San Fantin. In a preliminary drawing for the composition, n o w in Munich (pi. 140), the artist made use o f circular rhythms similar to those in the ceiling o f 1582. T h e arrangement seems denser than in the Assumption because o f the concentration o f figures at the bottom o f the field. V e r y likely this was determined b y the site. T h e painting could be seen only from the nave o f the chapel, f r o m where its upper portions were partly masked b y a beam. Still later, for the center o f the ceiling o f the n o w much altered church o f Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite, Palma painted a large Apotheosis of St. Mary Magdalen, n o w also k n o w n only f r o m a drawing, a composition study in Leningrad (pi. 138). 1 1 3 Here the circling figures were once more deployed evenly around the field, and a composition more like those o f San Giuliano and the Albergo o f the Scuola di San Fantin was the result. Transparent, screenlike groupings were also used by Palma in paintings for soffitti c o m posed more conventionally o f many large and small compartments in symmetrical arrangements. T h e painting o f Christ in Glory, which Palma supplied in about 1599 for the n o w destroyed ceiling o f the Oratorio del Gonfalone at Vicenza (fig. 26), I I 4 s h o w e d Christ floating in a sky o f clouds and cherub heads framed by a circle o f angels. The ceiling o f the groundfloor oratory o f the Scuola di San Fantin was painted by Palma between 1600 and 1603 (pis. 142-147). 1 1 5 Its three central pictures represent Suffrages for the Dead, illustrating the chosen duty o f the confraternity to comfort condemned men and w o r k for the good o f their souls. In each scene Palma provided only the barest o f settings and freely placed the figures over the full height and width o f the canvas in an open pattern that follows purely decorative considerations. Palma contributed no other ideas to the genre o f ceiling painting in the remaining years o f his life. Opportunities declined as the construction o f carved and painted soffitti at Venice fell off sharply in the early seventeenth century. The only other major complex built in the first half o f the seventeenth century—the ceiling o f the n o w demolished church o f the Incurabili 1 1 6 —was not begun until 1628, when Palma was in his old age. But the f e w ceiling compositions that he did paint in later years seem little more than repetitions o f schemes used successfully Catalogue no. 77. Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 192, 232; E. Arslan, Vicenza: I, Le chiese, R o m e (Cataloghi delle cose d'arte e di aiitichitad'Italia), 1956, 1 1 3 - 1 1 7 , with further illustrations. The ceiling was

destroyed in W o r l d W a r II. . M ! „ a 3 °8ue no' 1 1 6 For this ceiling, see below, p. 55.

113

114

38

Introduction in the past. Thus the Apotheosis of St. Mary Magdalen at the Convertite repeated the circling rhythms of the earlier ceiling at the Scuola di San Fantin and of that at the Cappella del Rosario; the St. Michael Expelling Lucifer at the former Somascan monastery church of Candiana (near Monselice) recalls the free groupings of the paintings at Vicenza and in the later ceiling at the Scuola di San Fantin. 1,7 It remains a fact that the great "Paradise" compositions of Palma's middle years were highly original. The loss of three of them and the general dullness and second-hand quality of so much of the artist's later work have tended to cast them into obUvion. Furthermore, their hypertrophic size marks them clearly as manifestations of a late phase. Yet they were the only direct precursors of the great vault decorations of the Settecento that the Renaissance at Venice produced.

Ill As a developing genre of interior decoration the Venetian Renaissance soffitto did not survive the sixteenth century. After Palma Giovane no major artist of the city concerned himself with the problems of ceiling painting for over fifty years, and Palma's best work all lay in the Cinquecento. Furthermore, with the end of the century the construction of ceilings fell so sharply as to make the date almost a real physical divide. Some twenty-eight ceilings were put up in the years between 1575 and 1600; only eight are known to have been built in the quarter-century that followed. The fact that there were no fires and wholesale redecorations in the early Seicento, such as had occurred in the Ducal Palace during the 1570's, accounts for only a part of the drop. General changes in the material circumstances of Venice seem to have been at work as well. Construction of new public buildings and refurbishment of existing buildings fell off markedly in the new century. During the Cinquecento the state had constructed over half a dozen major buildings on the Rialto and the Piazza San Marco, among them the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto, Libreria di San Marco, Zecca, Prigioni Nuove, east wing of the Ducal Palace, and initial 117 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 199 (cf. also 252 and 254). The painting was originally inset in a wooden ceiling painted with elaborate perspective architecture by Tommaso Sandrino of Brescia. Only in the crossing and sanctuary does the decora-

tion survive intact; in the nave it was replaced in the eighteenth century with a frescoed vault. Palma's picture now hangs on the wall of the north transept.

39

Introduction portion of the Procuratie Nuove. Four of this group had been extensively decorated with wall or ceiling paintings. In the seventeenth century, when the Procuratie were completed, only one wholly new building was put up, the Sala dei Banchetti. N e w religious foundations and comprehensive renovations of existing churches and monasteries likewise declined. Forty-three churches, large and small, were built ex novo or entirely rebuilt in the sixteenth century, but only twenty-seven in the hundred years that followed. The increasing resistance of the Republic to the growing power of the Tridentine Church was perhaps partly responsible in this case. It led in 1604 and 1605 to the reenactment and extension from metropolitan Venice to the entire Venetian state, of late medieval laws prohibiting without express approval of the state both private gifts and bequests to the Church and the establishment of new churches, monasteries, or hospitals. 118 But the general economic decline of the city must have been an even stronger factor. As the generation of new wealth slowed in the later Cinquecento, the climate of prosperity in which had flourished the private patronage of expensive decorative projects slowly faded a w a y . 1 1 9 But soffitti declined in terms not only of numbers but also of artistic quality. A decline of inventiveness in ceiling painting can be felt from the mid-1580's onward. Such development as there was after the turn of the century is due, until the 1670's, to the efforts of foreign artists working in the city. It is true that the end of the sixteenth century was a time of a general artistic recession in Venetian painting. One by one the leading painters had died: Titian in 1576, Veronese in 1588, and Tintoretto in 1594. With the exception of Palma Giovane only minor artists were left in the field, and even Palma had not the same talent as those who had disappeared. But, in addition, the evolution of the soffitto as a whole had been such as to discourage experimentation and innovation in ceiling painting. From the I56O'S onward ceiling frameworks had grown continually richer and more complex, to the point eventually of quite overshadowing the paintings set within them. Furthermore, during the last quarter of the century it had become common practice to share out the paintings of a ceiling among several artists, with a corresponding loss of artistic direction in the picture cycles. 118 E. Cornet, Paolo V e la repubblica veneta, Vienna, 1859, Docs. I and III, of, respectively, March 26,1605, and January 10, 1603 (more Veneto). The increasing resistance of Venice to papal claims of authority led eventually to the well-known Interdict of 1606-1607. For » recent summary of the affair, see L. Salvatorelli in La civiltà veneziana nell'età barocca, Florence, 1959, 69-95. " ' T h e old notion that the opening of the seventeenth century marked the beginning of a massive economic decline in Venice has been challenged in recent times; cf. C. Livi, D . Sella, and U . Tucci, " U n problème d'histoire: La déca-

dence économique de Venise " in Aspetti e cause iella decadenza economica veneziana nel secolo XVII, Venice (Fondaz. G. Cini, Centro di Cultura e Civilità, Studi, IX), 1961, 289-317. It remains agreed, however, that through war and competition the foreign trade of Venice shrank continually in the second half of the sixteenth century, with a corresponding decline of profits. The mood of caution and the husbanding of resources caused among the nobility by this increasing unprofitability of commerce is brilliantly documented by A. Stella, " L a crisi economica della seconda metà del secolo X V I , " Archivio Veneto, Ser 5», LVIII/LIX, 1959, 17-69.

40

Introduction The change in ceiling design was slow and continuous. The earliest surviving soffitti, those of the 1550's, were articulated in clear, easily surveyed patterns and used compartment shapes and moldings that were classical in origin. The ceiling of 1556 in the nave of San Sebastiano (pis. 47-48 and plan A ) 1 2 0 is symmetrically composed in length and width around a central square compartment. Being square the latter unites both axes of the ceiling in itself, but being smaller than the large ovals at either end it does not dominate the scheme. Linked to it by raised moldings are all the other compartments. They are circles, rectangles, and various kinds of ovals—classical shapes that are easily grasped. 121 The interconnections between the frames seemingly tie the system to the walls and give it support. At the same time they draw all the raised frames together into one taut web stretching over the whole surface of the ceiling and emphasizing its continuous plane. This decorative coherence and appearance of structural logic contribute to the impression of clearness and order. Similar systems are found in the ceilings in the Sacristy of San Sebastiano (pi. 43), 1 2 2 the rooms of the Council of Ten (pis. 20, 32, 38 and plan D), 1 2 3 and the reading room of the Libreria di San Marco (pis. 54-55). 124 The last named lacks the central focus of the San Sebastiano and Ducal Palace ceilings. While the others have a central compartment around which the fields are balanced, the Libreria ceiling is decorated with an evenly repetitive pattern of roundels and elongated ovals. The architect was Jacopo Sansovino, and the uninflected character of the design reflects his training in High Renaissance Rome and Florence. But he aimed at a combination of order and richness quite as much as the designers of the other, more elaborate soffitti. The kind of decorative unity that results from a centralized design was more to Venetian tastes, and from the 1560's onward the emphasis on a ceiling's central field steadily grew. Thus the system of the ceiling over the Salotto Quadrato in the Ducal Palace, built in 1562, 1 2 5 is basically the same as that of the ceiling in the Sacristy of San Sebastiano (pi. 81). But the lateral pictures are smaller in relation to the centerpiece, and their monochrome palette subordinates them coloristically as well. In the Albergo of the Scuola di San Rocco the ceiling, completed in 1564, 1 2 6 is articulated around the perimeter by the same sequence of circular and oval fields that was used along the 120

Catalogue no. 19. See also p. 19 above. They occur commonly in Roman imperial vault decorations. Cf. the vaults of the so-called Tomb of the Pancratii, Rome, and of an unidentified room at Hadrian's Villa (illus. K. Ronczewski, Gewölbeschmuck im römischen Altertum, Berlin, 1903, pis. X V I I and X X ) , and the Volta Dorata of the Golden House of Nero (illus. F. Weege, "Das Goldene Haus des Nero," Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen

Institutes, X X V I I I , 1 9 1 3 , 167-169, figs. 1 2 - i j ) . The modillion, dentil and beaded moldings also are typically classical. 122 Catalogue no. 18. 123 Catalogue nos. 3 5 - 3 7 . 124 Catalogue no. 33. 125 Catalogue no. 38. 126 Catalogue no. 28.

121

41

Introduction sides of the soffitto of San Sebastiano (pi. 84). However, in the earlier ceiling it framed three separate compartments; here it frames only one. The ceiling of shortly before 1566 formerly in Santa Maria dell'Umiltà had a still more animated system than either of the above two (cf. pi. 68). 1 2 7 The centerpiece was a large oval some twenty-five feet long and fourteen feet across, placed on the axis of the nave. A t each end were smaller ovals some eleven feet across, placed at right angles to the axis of the nave. Small monochrome scenes were set between the larger paintings. The framework is destroyed, and its actual appearance is unknown. On analogy with the busy relief decoration of the Salotto Dorato ceiling and the dense painted ornament of the soffitto of the Scuola di San Rocco, one may assume that it was highly decorated. The ceilings of the 1560's had a much richer surface appearance than those of the midcentury. Despite the predominance of the central field in these soffitti the subsidiary compartments retained their clarity of shape and the system as a whole its ready legibility. B y the following decade this also began to change. Relief increased, compartment shapes became still more complex, and the overall patterns of compartments more restless and more fanciful. The new ceiling constructed in 1 5 7 6 - 1 5 7 7 for the Sala del Collegio in the Ducal Palace uses the carved garlands and interconnected frames of the 1550's (pi. 7 3 ) . 1 2 8 The system consists of three large fields in the middle that are joined to courses of smaller fields along the sides. In its basic rhythm it is not unlike the ceiling of the nave of San Sebastiano. But all the compartments have been pushed together, creating the effect of a geometrical puzzle rather than a system of courses or rows. Many of the compartments are irregular in outline; there are T shaped and L-shaped fields as well as the conventional rectangles, ovals, and octagons. A close-knit, restless unity is the result. The many different forms and sizes of compartments are locked into a symmetrical pattern, any one portion of which leads irresistibly to the next. The denseness of the carvings adds to this sense of compression and quickness. The frames are very deep and are linked by carved masks rather than by extensions of themselves. Heavy strapwork is squeezed uncomfortably into the small spaces between compartments. The framework seems even to encroach somewhat on the paintings, challenging their primacy. A similar result may be observed in the superficially very different ceiling built in 1 5 7 4 1575 for the Upper Hall of the Scuola di San Rocco (pis. 92-93). 1 2 9 Strapwork is more prominent, the fields are even more various in their shapes, and the frames are artificially 127 128

129

Catalogue no. 14. Catalogue no. 41.

42

Catalogue no. 29.

Introduction enlarged by projecting corners and rosettes. Such decorative embroideries are uncalled for by the shapes of the picture fields, and it is legitimate to say that here the framework has become independent of the paintings. In both ceilings the model for this development would seem to have been stucco vault and mural decorations of the kind developed originally at Fontainebleau by Primaticcio and Rosso and introduced into the Veneto by Vittoria, the Ridolfi, and Bombarda. 130 The development reached its high point in the three ceilings of the Ducal Palace that were made anew after the fires of 1574 and 1577: those of the Sale del Maggior Consiglio, dei Pregadi, and dello Scrutinio (pis. 102,122, and 126). 1 3 1 The designs of the first two are known to have been commissioned in 1578 from Cristoforo Sorte, a Veronese artist-engineer who in his youth had worked at Mantua under Giulio Romano. The third seems to be by an unknown imitator of Sorte. Strapwork motives such as appeared in the background of the ceilings of the mid-1570's assumed a leading role in these designs. Great scrolls curl ponderously over the frames, joining them together or serving as enrichments. The development heretofore had tended toward greater complexity and animation in what were basically systematic arrangements. Sorte's designs, on the other hand, make use of baffling complexities and interpénétrations that have exactly the opposite effect of the structural metaphor behind the earlier soffitti. In the Sala del Maggior Consiglio two sequences of giant ovals cross the ceiling at right angles and divide it into quarters. In both rows the basic geometric shape of the fields is contradicted. The ovals on the long axis either disappear beneath or lie across a series of large rectangles. The ovals on the short axis are truncated at the outer edges and in the middle of the ceiling by rectilinear forms and thereby assume the appearance of half circles. In the remaining corners of the ceiling there are smaller compartments, seemingly attached to the walls and to the larger frames by strapwork motives. But the latter are too slight to carry the weight and are even invisible on the side toward the cornice, where they disappear among the welter of carvings. The large ovals are not actually attached to the walls either. Wherever their frames meet the cornice they curl back upon themselves. Thus the ceiling is completely dissociated from the architectural system of the room beneath. 130 The Fontainebleau decorations are illustrated by C . Terrasse, Fontainebleau, Paris, 1951, 28-40. Cf. also A. F. Blunt, Art and Architecture in France, 1300-1750, Harmondsworth (Pelican History of Art), *I957, 34-37, 64-65. For Venetian derivations, see Vittoria's ceiling of 1552-1553 in the octagonal room of the Palazzo Thiene, and L. Rubini's ceiling of the early i57o's in the first ground-floor room of the Palazzo Porto-Barbarano, both in Vicenza (illus. G.

Zorzi, "Alessandro Vittoria a Vicenza . . .," Arte Veneta, V , 1951, figs. 148 and 161), as well as Marco del Moro's and Bombarda's ceilings of 1576-1577 in, respectively, the Anticollegio and the Sala delle Quattro Porte of the Ducal Palace, Venice (illus. by Zorzi in "Nuove rivelazioni sulla ricostruzione del Pal. Ducale . . .," Arte Veneta, VII, 1953, figs. 120, 126-127, 122-124). 131

43

Catalogue nos. 42-44.

Introduction In the Sala dei Pregadi there are no outright conflicts of this kind, but there are similar, deliberate ambiguities. As in the other room, compartments and neutral ground are both filled with paintings and are no longer distinguishable in their functions. The heavy loops of woodwork at the corners of the centerpiece, the strapwork motives that bite into the outline of the ovals—these blur the shapes of the major fields and pretend to statical relationships that cannot work. In both ceilings the weight and size o f the carvings and the restless shapes of the fields are such that only the largest paintings can be examined comfortably. The fretted fields on the sides of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio containing the battle scenes and the many little triangular and trapezoidal fields will not allow the eye to rest upon them. They lock into a larger sequence and are literally overshadowed by larger forms that draw the beholder's gaze away. Heavy scrolls and loops of woodwork also characterize the ceiling in the Sala dello Scrutinio (pi. 126). But here the forms are coarser, their layout is more intricate, and figural motives are given a far more important place among the carvings. Nevertheless, the ceiling seems easier to read. Compartments and ground are kept separate, and the compartments seem to follow a clear system of courses. In some ways thus the ceiling differs from Sorte's two designs and even represents a rejection of their ambiguities. T w o ceilings among the soffitti built elsewhere in the city during the 1590's are similar. One is in San Giuliano and was constructed shortly after 1585 (pi. 136). 132 The other was built in the nave o f the Cappella del Rosario shortly before 1594 and destroyed in the nineteenth century (pi. 141). 133 Their ponderous carvings and irregularly shaped fields clearly were inspired by the last generation of ceilings in the Ducal Palace, although like the one in the Sala dello Scrutinio they strive for a calmer, clearer system than those designed by Sorte. The ceilings o f the end of the century have no uniformity as a group, beyond an avoidance o f mannerist complexities. In addition to soffitti in the Ducal Palace style there were produced ceilings without any frameworks at all, ceilings with clear bay divisions such as characterized the soffitti of the third quarter of the century, and ceilings in which the customary wooden framework was replaced with painted frames and architecture. In the Albergo o f the Scuola di San Fantin and the sanctuary of the Cappella del Rosario (pi. 141), 134 the ceiling was entirely taken up by a single, gargantuan painting modeled on vault frescoes rather than soffitto paintings. The ceiling of San Francesco di Paola (pi. 151), 135 on the other hand, was 132

Catalogue no. 6. Catalogue no. 72.

134 135

44

Catalogue nos. 23 and 72. Catalogue no. 1.

Introduction divided into many fields grouped around a large oval. The legibility of the pattern and simplicity of the individual compartment shapes recall the ceilings of the 1550's. The ceiling of 1600 in the Sala Terrena of the Scuola di San Fantin (pi. 142) 1 3 6 was a similarly conservative design, composed of rectangular fields alone. Still another system was in use at the end of the century. In it painted moldings and architecture rather than real wooden compartments framed the historiated scenes. Several examples are recorded, although none survive intact. One was the ceiling in the nave of San Nicolo dei Mendicoli, painted sometime before 1596 by followers of Veronese and other artists with episodes from the life of St. Nicholas. 137 Old descriptions record that the pictures were set among "comparti, architetture & ornamenti"painted by Francesco Montemezzano. Another example was the soffitto in the refectory of the convent of San Giacomo on the Giudecca, which was decorated in the same years by the studio of Veronese with three large Marian scenes.138 They were framed by painted "colonne & archi, con statue in nichie e belle architetture di lontano." The ceiling was taken down in the nineteenth century and, except for a few shreds with heads of figures and sections of foreshortened architecture, this part of the scheme was lost. Still a third such ceiling is recorded, the destroyed soffitto of Santi Apostoli, painted with acts of the Apostles by a group of minor artists sometime before 1595. 1 3 9 The pictures were surrounded with "architetture, ornamenti & Angeli" by Tommaso Dolabella. The prototype for entirely painted decorations of this kind must have been the

quadratura

schemes of the Brescian muralists, Cristoforo and Stefano Rosa, who in turn had obtained the idea and many of their motives from Giulio Romano's fresco decorations at Mantua. 140 Only one of their works still exists, the painted vault of 1559 in the vestibule of the Libreria di San Marco (pi. 78). 141 We see a gallery of painted columns and an imaginary corbeled vault, which provide the setting for a canvas painting, in this case by Titian. Others are recorded, such as the vault decoration formerly in the Madonna dell'Orto, in which twentyfour roundels with Biblical scenes were set into an imaginary prospect of foreshortened galleries and vaults. The variety of systems in the soffitti of the last years of the century, and the variety of sources they draw on, speak for a certain loss of direction in the development. In the period 136 I3j 139

Catalogue no. 24. no

Sandrini, was also of this type. Cf. n. 1 1 7 above.

'

140 j Schulz, " A Forgotten Chapter in the Early History of

Catalogue no. 68. The ceiling at Candiana, painted with

Q ^ r a V ^ g :

figurative scenes by Palma Giovane and Francesco Giugno

'

and with framing, foreshortened architecture by Tommaso

141

45

X|

ThcFr^lliKo^r

9°~IOZ-

Cf. catalogue no. 34.

Burlington Magazine,

Introduction from 1550 to 1578 ceiling frameworks had developed continuously and directly toward a closer resemblance to mannerist fresco and stucco decorations. Articulations grew richer and more complicated. The distinction between emphasized and subordinate forms became more exaggerated. Details and profiles of the frames were increasingly heavy and unclassical. In the last two decades of the century, on the other hand, the development moved into several different directions at once and designers seemed to borrow eclectically from a variety of models. There is no corresponding variety of development of ceiling paintings during this period. The Marian scenes in San Giacomo mentioned above are dull paraphrases of Veronese. The Annunciation imitates his Annunciation from Santa Maria dell'Umiltà; the Visitation recalls other compositions of his, like the Allegory of Faith and Worship in the Sala del Collegio. Some of the paintings in San Nicolò dei Mendicoli imitate Palma Giovane and Tintoretto. Montemezzano's Apotheosis of St. Nicholas (pi. 149) consists of free-floating ranks of figures like the centerpiece of the ceiling in San Giuliano; Leonardo Corona's Felling of the Heathen Grove (pi. 150) makes use of the contrasted, spiral movements Tintoretto first employed in the Upper Hall of the Scuola di San Rocco. Still another example, the ceiling in the passage between the rooms of the Great Council and the Scrutinio in the Ducal Palace, is eclectic in every respect.142 The arrangement of compartments—two transverse ovals enclosing an upright oval—repeats in miniature the arrangement of the ceiling formerly in Santa Maria dell'Umiltà. The paintings themselves, by Camillo Ballini, combine elements of Veronese and Palma. The centerpiece, for instance (fig. 41), while basically inspired by Palma's large oval in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, uses the compositional formula of Veronese's Allegory of Honor in the Libreria di San Marco (pi. 62), along with such favorite props of that artist as the foreshortened, fluted column. The common practice of sharing out cycles of ceiling paintings between two, three, and more artists must have contributed to the staleness of late sixteenth-century ceiling painting. To the general lack of talent was added a lack of incentive as the opportunities for individual recognition became more rare. Collaborative execution of large picture cycles was a tradition of long standing at Venice. The first mural cycle of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio had been gradually painted in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century by Guariento, Pisanello, and Gentile da Fabriano. Its replacement in the late fifteenth and sixteenth century was supplied over a period of time by nine artists in all, among them Giovanni Bellini, Carpaccio, 142

Catalogue no. 45.

46

Introduction Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese. 143 Some of the picture cycles in the confraternities were likewise the work of several painters, for example, the famous Legend of the Relic of the Cross, from the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista and now in the Accademia, 144 and the Marian cycle by Titian and Giampietro Silvio in the Albergo of the Scuola della Carità. 145 But before the 1570's, the extension of this custom to ceiling decoration was rare. There are four early instances of collaborative effort in soffitto painting : the ceilings in the Fondaco dei' Tedeschi, the reading room of the Libreria di San Marco, the Audience R o o m of the Council of Ten, and the room of the Council Heads. 146 They are from the same period, the 1550's, and all are undertakings of the state, which traditionally favored multiple commissions. Between 1578 and the end of the century, however, we encounter almost a dozen cases. Three of them were state undertakings and are accounted for partly by tradition and partly by the speed with which they were supposed to be completed. They are the large ceilings in the Ducal Palace, begun in 1578 to replace decorations destroyed in the fires of 1574 and 1577. But the remainder are soffitti in churches and confraternities.147 Here, too, speed may have been one of the aims of the authorities in charge. But the style of the frameworks may have had something to do with it too. The known examples were all fairly complex soffitti in the style of the late Ducal Palace or quadratura ceilings, in which the individual picture fields were subordinated to the whole. All the artists active at the end of the century participated in them, whether of Palma's, Tintoretto's, or Veronese's circle. The ceiling in the Cappella del Rosario was painted jointly by Palma, Tintoretto, and Leonardo Corona. The ceiling of San Giuliano was decorated by Palma and Corona. The ceiling paintings of the 1590's in the Upper Hall of the Scuola dei Mercanti were commissioned from Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto and Aliense. The paintings of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli were executed by four artists, Carletto Caliari, Corona, Francesco Montemezzano, and Alvise dal Friso. W e have spoken of the ceiling in the church's nave. At one time the crossing and aisles were also decorated with painted 1 4 3 F. W i c k h o f f , " D e r Saal des Grossen R a t h e s . . . in seinem alten S c h m u c k e , " Repertcrrium fur Kunstwissenschaft, V I , 1883, 1-37.

paintings o f the first r o o m o f the C o u n c i l o f T e n (the A u dience R o o m ) w a s g i v e n at first exclusively t o G i o v a n n i Battista P o n c h i n o . His timidity then caused h i m to share the

S. M o s c h i n i M a r c o n i , Le Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia: Opere d'arte dei sec. XIVe XV, R o m e , 1955, nos. 56, 62, 63, 64, 9 4 , 1 3 0 , 1 3 9 , and 144 (illus.). 144

task w i t h V e r o n e s e and G i o v a n n i Battista Z e l o t t i . T h e fact that these t w o did the lion's share o f the w o r k casts s o m e d o u b t o n the tale, at least as an accurate account o f the

Titian's Presentation of the Virgin remains in its original site, n o w Gallery X X I V o f the A c c a d e m i a . Silvio's pictures are o n loan to the parish church o f M a s o n V i c e n t i n o . S. M o s c h i n i M a r c o n i , Gallerie dell'Accademia . ..: Opere d'arte del secolo XVI, R o m e , 1962, nos. 375, 376, and 451 (illus.). 145

sequence o f events. W h a t e v e r the facts o f the case, the result w a s that the ceiling b e c a m e a collaborative effort. 1 4 7 In the Scuola dei M e r c a n t i (Cat. nos. 84 and 85) and the churches o f Santi Apostoli, Santi G i o v a n n i e Paolo, San G i u l iano, and San N i c o l ò dei M e n d i c o l i (respectively C a t . nos. 68, 72, 6, and 17).

1 4 6 C a t a l o g u e nos. 32, 33, 35, and 37. G . Vasari, Vite (see n. 13 above), V I , 594, reports that the commission for the ceiling

47

Introduction sofFitti. From the old descriptions one gains a clear impression of the unimportance of the individual pictures in the complex as a whole. "In the ceiling of this aisle," wrote Boschini in 1664, describing the left-hand aisle, "there are a painting with the Sacrifice of Abraham and other little pictures ('quadretti') in various compartments with scenes from the Old Testament, all by Alvise dal Friso." 148 His account continues in the same manner down the aisle and along the other ceilings in the church. One cannot help but feel that the subject matter of the " quadretti" was of little importance in the total effect of the scheme.

IV The city's carved and painted soffitti began to be imitated on the mainland only in the last quarter of the sixteenth century and never achieved more than a limited popularity. Important rooms were generally vaulted and decorated with fresco and stucco work when not left bare. Flat ceilings tended to be used in the less pretentious interiors, where an opulent ceiling decoration was out of place and possibly beyond the means of the patron. Painted ceilings were not unknown in the major cities of the terraferma. Brescia's Palazzo Comunale for a short time possessed three great ceiling paintings by Titian. The false vault of its main hall was covered with a huge quadratura decoration, culminating in three picture fields. These contained allegories painted by Titian in 1565-1568 in the manner of Venetian ceiling pictures (fig. 27); 149 however, the entire decoration was destroyed by fire in 1575. At Vicenza the Oratorio del Gonfalone was given a sumptuous soffitto when it was rebuilt in 1596-1599, the paintings being supplied by Palma Giovane and a group of Vicentine artists (cf. fig. 26). 150 The Palazzo Porto Barbarano in the same city still houses on its piano nobile three painted ceilings of the end of the sixteenth century. The finest is that in the Hall, which was decorated by unidentified minor artists of the Vicentine and Bassanese schools with scenes from the history of the Barbarano family, modeled on the battle scenes in the ceiling of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio at Venice. 151 Surprisingly, the parish church of the little country town of Lentiai (on the Piave River, between Feltre and Belluno) has a very fine 148 149

150

M . Boschini, Le minere delta pittura, Venice, 1664, 322. J . Schulz, " A Forgotten Chapter" (see n. 140 above),

Destroyed in World War II. E. Arslan, Vicenza: I, Le chiese (see n. 1 1 4 above), 1956, nos. 767-781 (illus.). ISI Unpublished. Cf. F.Barbieri,R.Cevese, and L. Magagnato, Guida di Vicenza, Vicenza, 2i9$6, 109.

96; E. Tietze Conrat, " U n soffitto di Tiziano . . . conservato in un disegno del Rubens," Arte Veneta, VIII, 1954, 209-210.

48

FIGURE 26 Palma Giovane, Christ in Glory, ca. 1599.

FIGURE 27 Cornells C o r t , The Cyclops at Their Forge, 1 5 7 2

Destroyed; formerly Vicenza, Oratorio del Gonfalone.

C o p y of the octagonal ceiling painting b y Titian formerly at Brescia, Palazzo Comunale.

FIGURE 28 Cesare Vecellio, The Marriage of the Virgin, 1 5 7 7 - 1 5 7 8 . Lentiai, Santa Maria Assunta.

FIGURE 29 Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, Salone dei Cinquecento, view. Paintings by Giorgio Vasari and assistants, 1563-1565.

FIGURE 30 Giuseppe Cesari, The Ascension oj Christ, ca. 1592. Rome, San Prassede, Cappella Olgiati.

FIGURE 31 Naples, San Pietro a Maiella, ceiling of the nave (scenes from the life of St. Celestine by Mattia Preti), 1656-1661.

FIGURE 32 Pietro da Cortona, The Triumph of Providencc, 1633-1639. R o m e , Palazzo Barberini.

FIGUBE 33 Matthias Kager, Peter Candid, and others, ceiling of the Golden R o o m , 1 6 1 9 - 1 6 2 1 . Destroyed; formerly Augsburg, T o w n Hall.

FIGURE 34 Peter Paul R u b e n s , The Annunciation,

1620

FIGUKE 35 Peter Paul R u b e n s , 7'/if Sacrifice of Abraham,

1620

[sketch of a projected painting f o r the Jesuit Church in Antwerp).

(sketch for one of the paintings of the Jesuit Church in Antwerp).

Vienna, Akademie der Bildenden Künste.

Paris, Louvre.

FIGURE 36 London, Banqueting House, view of ceiling. Paintings by Rubens, completed 1634.

FIGURE 37 Peter Paul Rubens, The Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland, completed 1634. London, Banqueting House.

FIGURE 38 Nicolas Poussin, Time Reselling Truth, 164.1. Paris, Louvre.

FIGURE 39 B e r n a r d o Strozzi, The Parable of the Uninvited

Wedding Guest, after 1636

(sketch f o r the ceiling painting f o r m e r l y at t h e Incurabili, Venice). G e n o a , Accademia Ligustica.

FiGU»r 40 Alessandro Varottari (il Padovanino), The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, after 1630. from the Incurabili. Venice, Accademia.

FIGURE 41 Camillo Ballini, Venice Crowned by Glory, early seventeenth century. Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Andito della Sala dello Scrutinio (Cat. no. 45).

FIGURE 43 Venice, Palazzo Pesaro, salotto on the piano nobile, view of ceiling. Paintings by Nicolò Bambini, 1682.

HGURE 43 Scuola di San Fantm (Ateneo Veneto), Albergo N u o v o , v i e w o f ceiling. Painting by Antonio Zanchi, 1674.

FIGURE 44 Sebastiano Ricci, Allegory of Science, ca. 1710. Venice, Seminario Patriarcgle, Library.

FIGURE 45 Sebastiano Ricci, The Miraculous Transport of the Image of the Virgin, ca. 1700-1705. Venice, San Marciliano.

FIGURE 46 Antonio Zanchi, The Burning of Heretical Books, 1703. Venice, Seminario Patriarcale, Library.

FIGURE 47 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Apotheosis of Spain, 1762-1764, detail. Madrid. Palacio Nacional, Throne R o o m .

Introduction soffitto of twenty panels illustrating scenes from the lives o f the Virgin and Christ (fig. 28), painted in 1577-1578 by Cesare Vecellio. 1 3 2 Other cycles exist or existed at one time in Bergamo and Padua. 153 Taken altogether, however, the number o f painted ceilings on the mainland was never large, and, with one exception, none were earlier than the late 1570's. Only Titian's pictures at Brescia were earlier than this, but they were elements o f a vast perspective fantasy modeled on Mantuan decorations, not o f a soffitto in the Venetian fashion. In central Italy, on the other hand, the decorative system o f the Venetian soffitto and the compositional formulae o f soffitto painting were known and imitated from early times on. Vasari introduced them into Tuscany shortly after his visit to Venice. In 1549 he designed a painted ceiling for the main room o f his house in Arezzo. 1 5 4 Although its thirteen pictures were composed like so many quadri riportati without reference to one another, the arrangement and the compositions were Venetian. The ceiling is entirely covered with canvases, separated only by narrow wooden moldings. The oblique foreshortening o f the scenes repeats the 45-degree projection used at Venice and used by Vasari himself in his allegories o f the Palazzo Corner. He made use of the convention again in the ceilings he designed in 1554-1565 for the great Hall and for two private rooms o f the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence, then undergoing conversion into a ducal residence. 155 Moreover, the heavy frameworks o f these soffitti show that he was keeping abreast o f Venetian developments, for they are quite as plastic as Venetian ceilings o f the very same years (fig. 29). In Emilia the Carracci made use o f Venetian compositional formulae in their ovals o f Galatea, Pluto, Venus, and Flora, painted in 1592 for a ceiling in the Palazzo dei Diamanti at Ferrara. 156 They are modeled on such pictures as the rectangular allegories in the Audience 1 5 2 There are also fifty-two small O l d Testament scenes in chiaroscuro; F. Vergerio, La chiesa di Santa Maria di Lentiai, Alassio, 1931, 39. C f . also F. Valcanover, Mostra dei Vecellio, Belluno (Auditorium), 1951, Cat. no. 19 and p. x x i v .

e della sua cerchia, Florence (Mostre del Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi, X V I I ) , 1964, no. 57 (illus.). 1 5 5 T h e ceilings in the Palazzo Vecchio are above all those o f the Sala degli Elementi and the Salone dei Cinquecento; see A . Lensi, Palazzo Vecchio, Milan/Rome, 1929, 153-159, 202-212 (illus., respectively, on 155 and 238-241), and P . Barocchi, Vasari pittore, Florence, 1964, 38-42, 53-62 (illus., figs- 79-8o). T h e ceiling in the Sala di Gualdrada, in the Apartment o f the Duchess Leonora, is decorated w i t h small allegories executed b y Stradano w h i c h c o p y Vasari's Palazzo Corner allegories o f 1542; Lensi, Palazzo Vecchio, 188; P. Barocchi, Vasari pittore, fig. I, and " C o m p l e m e n t i al Vasari pittore," Atti dell'Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere "La Colombaria," X X V I I I , 1963/1964, figs. 86-88.

1 5 5 For example, Francesco Bassano's allegories in the T o w n Hall and Marian scenes in Santa Maria M a g g i o r e , at B e r g a m o (E. Arslan, I Bassano, Milan, 2 I96O, I, 214). A cycle o f Gospel scenes and saints b y Dario Varottari and Aliense decorated the ceiling o f Sant'Agata, Padua, but has been destroyed (Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 88,208). •54 Partially illustrated b y P. Barocchi, Vasari pittore, Florence, 1964, fig. 34, and A . Venturi, Storia dell'arte italiana, Milan, 1901-1940, X I , ii, 400, figs. 355-356. For Vasari's houses cf. further W . B o m b e , "Vasari's Hauser in Horenz und A r e z z o , " Belvedere, XIII, 1928, 58-59, and L. Berti, La casa del Vasari in Arezzo, Florence, 1955, 9-10. A preliminary drawing for the ceiling, w h i c h gives its plan as a whole, survives in the Uffizi; P. Barocchi, Mostra di disegni del Vasari

1 5 6 R . Pallucchini, I dipinti della Galleria Estense di Modena, R o m e , 1945, nos. 272-274, 277 (illus.); C . Gnudi et al.. Mostra dei Carracci, B o l o g n a (Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio: Biennali d'arte antica), 1956, nos. 18, 40, 7 1 - 7 2 (illus.).

49

Introduction R o o m of the Council of Ten (pis. 24-25). In Rome, Giuseppe Cesari exploited in that same year another formula of Venetian midcentury ceiling painting. The well-known fresco of the Ascension of Christ, in the Cappella Olgiati at San Prassede (fig. 30), is set in the center of a stucco vault in the fashion of a quadro riportato.157 But it is modeled on compositions with changing viewpoints such as the centerpiece of the Sala della Bussola (pi. 36). The artists of the early baroque ceiling decorations of Rome continually applied Venetian compositional schemes to new contexts in this way. Lanfranco, in his vault fresco of the Gods of Olympus at the Villa Borghese (1624-1625), 158 made use of the stepped system of clouds and figures developed by Tintoretto and Palma during the last quarter of the century. Sacchi's Allegory of Divine Wisdom in the Palazzo Barberini (1629-1633) 159 shows a much vaster sky than either Lanfranco's fresco or its Venetian models, but the figures are grouped in quite the same way. Pietro da Cortona's earliest fresco in the Chiesa Nuova, the Angels with the Instruments of the Passion of 1633 in the sacristy,160 is typically Venetian in the mild foreshortening of the forms and the vertical "stacking" of the figures. The formula reappears in his great vault decoration of 1633-1639 in the Hall of the Palazzo Barberini (fig. 32). 1 6 1 Many different decorations provided ideas for the latter scheme. The painted architecture and sculpture derived from the Farnese Gallery; the rising tiers of light-struck forms came from Correggio's dome decorations; the fiction of ground at cornice level was inspired by Giulio Romano's Sala di Troia at Mantua. But the seemingly foreshortened figures filling the whole height of the central rectangle of the vault were, like the Chiesa Nuova Angels, observed from Venetian models. On the whole, Roman baroque artists learned motives and compositional formulae from Venice, but put them to work in non-Venetian fresco schemes. In some the vault is spirited away; in others it is covered with stuccoes and quadri riportati. Either way, the ensemble is not Venetian, although the figurative scenes may contain many echoes of Venetian soffitto For the date, see H . Hibbaxd, The Architecture of the Palazzo Borghese, R o m e (American Academy at Rome, Memoirs, XXVII), 1962,90, n. 47. H. Hibbard, "The Date of Lanfranco's Fresco in the Villa Borghese," in Miscellanea Bibliothecae Hertzianae, Munich (Romische Forschungen ier Biblioteca Hertziana, XVI), 1961, 355-365 (illus.). The earliest example in Venice of such a composition of vertically "stacked" tiers of figures is Tintoretto's fresco of Jove Leading Venice into the Lagoon, in the vault of the Sala delle Quattro Porte of the Ducal Palace. Though part of a fresco and stucco decoration, the composition borrows the illusionistic metaphor of soffitto paintings. It uses the same mild foreshortening and changing viewpoints and strives for the same even patterning of the picture surface. The fresco was in the course of execution in January,

1577. Cf. the document published by G. Zorzi, " N u o v e rivelazioni sulla ricostruzione . . . del Palazzo Ducale," Arte Veneta, VII, 1953, 150, no. 158: a record of payment to " M ° Batista murer per haver smaltà nel volto della sala d'Antipregadi dove depenze il tentoretto." 155 R . Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750, Harmondsworth (Pelican History of Art), 2I9 Michala Aniola (H Tempo di Michelangelo), Warsaw, 1963, no. 64. 2 Cf. Bialostocki and Walicki, loc. tit., and G. de Tervarent, Attributs et symboles dans fart profane, Geneva, I, 19S81964, col. 118. 3 Particularly close are a signed Lamentation at Munich (Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 81, n. 1), where the treatment of the robe of Nicodemus is similar to that of the draperies here, and the glitteringly painted stormy landscapes of the Temptation of Christ and Sacrifice of Isaac at Castle Howard, Yorks. (T. Borenius, "London Exhibitions," Pantheon, VI, 1930, 353). None of these paintings have been reproduced. For Paolo de' Franceschi in

128

Provenance Unknown general, cf. R . A. Peltzer, "Niederländisch-venezianische Landschaftsmalerei," Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, N.F., 1,1924,129-142. 4 Cf. n. 1 above and, for the convincing attribution, J. Michalkowa, "Un quadro di Battista Franco in una raccolta polacca," Bulletin du Musée National de Varsouie, V, 1964, 104-111. The scene has been identified variously, as from the story of Psyche

129

or Circe. s See Potocki's report of his purchase, as quoted by Michalkowa, op. cit., 108, n. 18. The fact that the Poznari painting was alienated from the Potocki collection between 1827 and 1834 may suggest that the owners at that time did not regard it as a true pendant to the other picture.

LOST: AND

CHURCHES

MONASTERIES

67. C H I E S A D E L L ' A N C O N E T T A (formerly). Paintings by Leonardo Corona: The Annunciation, The Birth of the Virgin, and The Visitation.

In the center: an outsized Ascension of Christ, by Aliense and Dolabella. In the middle registers:1 Sts. John and Andrew Baptizing in Samaria, Martyrdom of St. Stephen, Fall of Simon Magus, and Conversion of St. Paul, by Varottari. Elsewhere: octagons of Pentecost and St. Peter in Prison, by Montemezzano. On all sides: "architettura, ornamenti, & Angeli," by Dolabella.2

Corona's ceiling paintings are first mentioned by Boschini, who also reports that a Presentation of the Virgin and an Assumption had been newly added to the cycle by one Giacomo Petrelli ( = Pedrali?).1 This enlargement of the ceiling must have been carried out in connection with the enlargement of the church, begun in the 1620's.2 The ceiling survived into the second half of the eighteenth century.3 The walls of the church were stripped and whitewashed in 1772, but the ceiling seems to have been left unharmed at the time. 4 Soon after that, however, the building was closed, and in 1855 it was demolished.5 The fate of the paintings is unknown. 1

Boschini, Minere, 484 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 61). 1 Corner, Ecctesiae Venetae, XII, 125-127 (Notizie Storiche, 260); G. Tassini, Curiosità veneziane, Venice, 6 i933, 17- 3 Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, 328 (2d edition, II, 434). 4 R . Gallo, "Le aggiunte di Daniele Farsetti al libro 'Della pittura veneziana' di Antonmaria Zanetti," Ateneo Veneto, CXXVI, 1939, 254-255. 5 Tassini, he. cit., and Edifici distrutti, n o .

68. S A N T I A P O S T O L I (formerly). Paintings by Tommaso Dolabella, Francesco Montemezzano, Dario Varottari, and Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense).

130

The medieval church of Santi Apostoli was restored and redecorated in the later sixteenth century and reconsecrated in 1575.3 The date perhaps marks the beginning rather than the end of the renovation, for the second edition of Sansovino's Venetia, prepared in 1603, says of the church, "al presente ella si trova del tutto rinovata," and itemizes a long list of works by artists of the time not mentioned in the first edition of 15 81.4 Among them is the ceiling, in connection with which, however, only Montemezzano's name is mentioned. But the other artists by this time had finished their part of the work, too, for Dolabella left Venice in 1595s and Varottari died in 1596.6 Ridolfi gives exact descriptions of the various paintings of the ceiling,7 and down to 1733 all the guidebooks mention them. They were removed in a mid-eighteenthcentury renovation of the church, and a fresco decoration by Fabio Canal was put

Lost: Churches and Monasteries in their place.8 The fate of the paintings is unknown. 1 Boschini, Minere, 433-434 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 22): "nelle mezzane del soffito." 2 Boschini, loc. cit., Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 89, and M. Boschini, La carta del navegarpitoresco..., Venice, 1660, 393, give this portion to Varottari. Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 141, seems to give some of it also to Montemezzano. 3 Corner, Ecclesiae Venetae, II, 169-170 (Notizie Storiche, 268). 4 Sansovino, loc. cit. 5 J. Muczkowski in U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Ktinstler..., Leipzig, 1907-1950, IX, under Dolabella. 6 Ridolfi, op. cit., II, 91. 7 Ibid., II, 89,140, 212. 8 The unveiling was noted by P. Gradenigo, Notizie d'arte . .., ed. A. Livan, Venice (Deputazione di Storia Patria, Miscellanea di Studi e Memorie, V), 1942, under June 21, 1753-

69 .

(formerly), Organ case. Paintings by Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense). In the center: Jacob's Dream of the Heavenly Ladder. To one side: The Lord Changes Moses' Rod into a Snake. To the other: The Lord Speaking with Moses.

1 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 188. 2 Boschini, Minere, 204 (Ricche Minere, Castello, 44). 3 Cf. Zanetti, Descrizione, 235, and Pittura Veneziana, 320-321 (2d edition, II, 424-425). 4 G. Tassini, Curiosità veneziane, Venice, «1933, 285.

71. S A N G I A C O M O D A L L ' O R I O (formerly), Cappella della Concezione. Ceiling painting by Paolo Veronese: Coronation of the Virgin (oval). A soffitto by Veronese over the altar of the Immaculate Conception (in the left aisle of the nave near the main entrance) is first mentioned by Sansovino.1 It was passed over in silence by Boschini, but in the eighteenth century it was noticed and its subject and shape were described by Zanetti. 2 Sometime before 1771 the picture vanished from the church. 3 1 Sansovino, Venetia, 74V. 2 Zanetti, Descrizione (i733), 436- 3 Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana (1771), 188, does not mention it.

Aliense's paintings were first mentioned by Boschini1 and seem to have survived the replacement of the organ in 1738. However, by 1772 they had been gone for several years.2 Their present whereabouts are unknown.

72. S A N T I G I O V A N N I E P A O L O (formerly), Cappella del Rosario (pi. 141). Ceiling paintings by Jacopo Tintoretto, Palma Giovane, and Leonardo Corona. Destroyed. Over the sanctuary: a large rectangle of the Coronation of the Virgin, by Palma. In the middle of the nave: an oval of The Virgin Distributing Rosaries to Sts. Dominic, Catherine of Siena, Justice, and the Princes of Christendom, and two oblongs of Angels Strewing Flowers, all by Tintoretto. At the altar end of the chapel: an octagon of St. Dominic Obtaining Indulgences for the Rosary from the Pope, two L-shaped pictures of a Dominican Saint, and two of an Evangelist, all by Palma. At the entrance end of the chapel: an octagon of St. Dominic Preaching the Rosary Before the Papal Court, the Emperor, and the Doge, two L-shaped pictures of a Dominican Saint, and two of xa.Evangelist, all by Corona.

1 Boschini, Minere, 434 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 22). 2 R . Gallo, "Le aggiunte di Daniele Farsetti al libro 'Della pittura veneziana' di Antonmaria Zanetti," Ateneo Veneto, CXXVI, 1939, 256-257.

70. S A N F R A N C E S C O D E L L A V I G N A (formerly), Chiesetta dell'Infermeria. Paintings by Palma Giovane. In the center: Christ. At the sides: Prophets. Ridolfi mentions in general terms Palma's work in the chapel of the monastic infirmary, 1 but Boschini lists specific subjects.2 The paintings are still recorded in the early eighteenth century, but by the second half seem to have disappeared.3 Later, in the nineteenth century, the monastery was converted into a barracks and the room itself destroyed. 4

The Cappella del Rosario was built in the last quarter of the sixteenth century by the 131

Catalogue Scuola di Santa Maria del Rosario, a confraternity founded in 1575 to honor Our Lady of the Rosary, on whose feast day the Venetians and their allies had defeated the Turks in the battle of Lepanto four years before. In 1582 the confraternity was ceded the chapel of St. Dominic on the north transept of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Construction of a new chapel on the site began soon afterward. By 1587 its fabric was far enough advanced to allow stucco decorations to be begun. In 1593 the sculptural decoration of the great freestanding altar was in hand. 1 By 1594 two paintings at least had been completed for the ceiling.2 Some work was still in progress in 1608 at the time of the death of the architect, Alessandro Vittoria, but the interior decorations seem to have been complete by 1603, when G. Stringa wrote his additions to Sansovino's Venetia.3

legendary story of St. Dominic's institution of the Rosary. The Coronation in the presbytery exalted the Virgin whose gift the Rosary supposedly had been and in whose cult it is an aid. A composition study for a Coronation seen di sotto in sit and square in format exists in the first of the two scrapbooks of Palma drawings at Munich (pi. 140).8 It is in all likelihood a study for the destroyed ceiling of the sanctuary. 1 P. L. Rambaldi, La Mesa dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo e la Cappella del Rosario . . V e n i c e , 1 9 1 3 , 4 5 - 4 7 ; idem, "Per il monumento di Lepanto," II Marzocco, XIX, February 8, 1914, 2. 2 Palma's painting in the presbytery was dated 1594, according to Moschini, Guida, I, 156. Tintoretto, who painted the centerpiece, died in the same year. 3 Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 4 125-126. Published in [P. L. Rambaldi and L. Marangoni], Per il restauro delta Capp. del Rosario nella Chiesa di SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Venezia, Venice, n.d. [1910?], frontispiece, when it was in the collection of G. Ceresole, Venice. Our illustration is taken from this publication. 5 Rambaldi, op. tit., pi. 16. 6 Sansovino, loc. cit.; Boschini, Mitiere, 2 2 3 - 2 2 4 (Ricche Minere, Castello, 5 9 - 6 0 ) ; Zanetti, Descrizione, 2 4 5 - 2 4 6 ; Moschini, loc. cit. 7 T. Coryat, Coryat's Crudities Hastily Gobled up in Five Moneths Travells in France, Savoy and Italy ..., London, 1611, 222 (new edition, Glasgow, 1905,1, 362). 8 Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Palma Album I, 23V (Tietzes, Drawings, no. 1037-1-23 verso).

One of the leading sights of Venice, the chapel was burned out in 1867 with the loss of all its paintings and wooden decorations. For the general appearance and the program of the ceiling we must rely on a watercolor of the interior by the nirieteenth-century Venetian artist, Luigi Querena (pi. 141),4 an oil painting by Giovanni Ciocchetti, 5 and lengthy descriptions in the old guides.6 The nearly square presbytery was covered with one huge canvas of the Coronation by Palma, signed and dated 1594. The ceiling over the hall-like nave was divided into three parts. Each end bay consisted of a quartet of L-shaped pictures enclosing an octagonal field with reentrant corners. The middle bay held a great oval compartment bordered by an oblong on each side. Palma's paintings decorated the sanctuary and the eastern end of the nave, Corona's the western end, and Tintoretto's the middle. The whole made an imposing complex of large paintings and heavy carvings, "a passing glorious roofe most richly gilt." 7

73. S A N T A G I U S T I N A (formerly), Underside of raised nuns' choir. Paintings by Palma Giovane and Sante Peranda. In the center: Resurrection of Christ by Palma. At the sides: chiaroscuri, by Peranda. The thirteenth-century convent church of Santa Giustina was restored in the midfifteenth century and once again in 15991600.1 According to Ridolfi the commission for a new decoration for the underside of the choir was at this time sought by Aliense, but through the machinations of Alessandro Vittoria was awarded to Palma. 2 The known facts do not allow us to assign a precise date to the ceiling. Santa Giustina was disestablished in 1810 and later divided into two floors to become an educational institution. 3 The paintings

The paintings celebrated the Rosary and its patroness, the Virgin Mary. Three large scenes down the middle of the nave told the 132

Lost: Churches and Monasteries Stock, Albert of Trapani, and Teresa. Further pictures were later added to the cycle to fill out the soffitto, which was larger than the ceiling of the Carmini. 5 In this form the cycle survived until the disestablishment of the convent in the nineteenth century. The paintings were then removed to the domanial magazines for confiscated works of art. The buildings became an orphanage.6 The pictures have disappeared, but the convent church, with its empty seventeenth-century soffitto, still exists.

have disappeared, and our only knowledge of them is from the descriptions of the guidebooks.4 1 Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 130-131. 2 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 215. 3 Tassinì, Edifici distrutti, 20; Lorenzetti, Venezia, 369 (2d edition, 376). 4 Boschini, Minere, 207-208 (Ricche Minere, Castello, 47); Zanetti, Descrizione, 237.

74. S A N T A M A R I A A S S U N T A [ DEI C R O C I F E R I , DEI G E S U I T I ] (formerly), First staircase of the monastery. Painting by Palma Giovane: God the Father.

1 Vasari, Vite, VI, 596. 2 Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 184 ; Ridolfi, Maraviglie, 1 , 2 j 1. 3 D. Martinelli, Ritratto di Venezia, Venice, 2 I705, 289, 418; Corner, Ecclesiae Venetae, V, 353-356, and XII, 57-63 (Notizie Storiche, 285-289, 511-513). 4 M. Boschini, La carta del navegarpitoresco ..., Venice, 1660, 283. 5 Cf. Boschini, Ricche Minere, Dorso Duro, 10-11, and Zanetti, Descrizione, 319-320. 6 Tassini, Edifici distrutti, 80.

The painting is mentioned in the guidebooks from 1664 to 1733.1 No more is heard of it, however, after the secularization of the monastery in 1773.2 1 Boschini, Minere, 424 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 15) ; Zanetti, Descrizione, 385. 2 Tassini, Edifici distrutti, 124.

76. S A N T A M A R I A D E L L ' O R T O (formerly), First chapel on the left. Paintings by Jacopo Tintoretto. In the center: God the Father with Angels. At the sides: Musician Angels.

75. S A N T A M A R I A D E L C A R M E L O [I C A R M I N I ] (formerly), Sanctuary. Paintings by Andrea Schiavone. In the center: a roundel of The Virgin in Glory with Saints. In the corners: four Evangelists.

The ceiling was first mentioned by Borghini, when Tintoretto was still alive.1 Its progressive deterioration and final disappearance can be followed in the old guidebooks. Between 1664 and 1674 the centerpiece fell to the floor, "cagione il mal governo di chi ne doveva tenir cura," and was removed. 2 In 1733 the Musician Angels had newly disappeared.3 By 1771 the decoration is not mentioned any more. 4

The attribution to Schiavone of the ceiling paintings in the sanctuary of the Carmini dates back to Vasari.1 It is repeated in the second edition of Sansovino's Venetia and by Ridolfi. 2 In 1647 a group of Carmelite nuns obtained the site of the former Franciscan monastery of San Bonaventura for a convent. The old church was rededicated to Santa Teresa, enlarged and redecorated.3 As a part of this work Schiavone's ceiling paintings from the Carmini were obtained to form the decoration of a new soffitto. The cycle was moved to its new location before 166o.4 In the process of the transfer changes appear to have been made in the main painting. Ridolfi reports that its subject was The Virgin with Angels Attended by Sts. Peter and Elijah. Boschini describes it instead as The Virgin and Child with Angels Attended by Sts. Simon

1 R . Borghini, Il Riposo, in cui della pittura e della scultura si favella, Florence, 1584, 553. 2 Boschini, Minere (1664), 444, and Ricche Minere (1674), Canareggio, 30. 'Zanetti, Descrizione, 396. * Idem, Pittura Veneziana, 131-135.

77. S A N T A MARIA MADDALENA DELLE CONVERTITE (formerly). Paintings by Palma Giovane. In the center: The Apotheosis of St. Mary Magdalen. At the sides: chiaroscuri of The Evangelists and Old Testament Scenes. 133

Catalogue The convent of the Convertite was founded in the early 1550's for women who, like its patron saint, had sinned and repented. Its small oratory was enlarged and rebuilt soon afterwards by the generosity of a certain Bartolommeo Bontempelli del Calice. It was reconsecrated in 1579. 1 The second edition of Sansovino's Venetia, compiled in 1603, mentions the reconstruction but not the ceiling paintings by Palma, which presumably are later than this date.2 They are first described by Ridolfi in 1648.3 From the fact that Boschini refers to the centerpiece as a "Paradiso," 4 we may infer that it resembled Palma's other ceiling paintings called by that name in the older literature : the Apotheosis of St. Julian in San Giuliano (Cat. no. 6) and the Assumption in the Cappella del Rosario (Cat. no. 72). A preliminary study for it seems to survive at Leningrad, in the form of a large pen drawing for a ceiling painting of an assumption (pi. 138). 5 The rising figure lacks attributes and cannot be identified. But the format and composition of the scenes are unlike either of the known Paradise ceilings by Palma and must represent the only other ceiling of the kind painted by him, that at the Convertite.

78. S A N P A T E R N I A N O (formerly), Righthand nave. Paintings by Palma Giovane and Alvise dal Friso: seven Old Testament scenes, of which the first and last were by Palma, the others by Alvise.

The convent was suppressed in 1807 and turned first into a military hospital and then (1857) into a women's prison.6 Palma's paintings have disappeared.

The four paintings are mentioned first by Boschini and last by Zanetti.1 The church was closed in 1810 but reopened in 1836. 2 In the interval the pictures disappeared.

Founded in the tenth century and repeatedly rebuilt, San Paterniano survived until the Napoleonic suppressions of the nineteenth century.1 It was disestablished in 1810, turned into a warehouse, and then (1871) demolished.2 Boschini in 1664 was the first to mention a cycle of ceiling paintings in the right-hand nave.3 His report is repeated by all the later topographers down to the second half of the eighteenth century.4 However, in 1771 most of the church's paintings were removed and dispersed.5 1 Corner, Ecclesiae Venetae, XII, 261-265 (Notizie Storiche, 214-216). 2 Tassini, Edifici distrutti, 49. 3 Boschini, Minere, 128 (Ricche Minere, San Marco, 100). 4 D. Martinelli, Il ritratto di Venezia, Venice, '1705, 43 ; Zanetti, Descrizione, 181. 5 Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, 6i8(underS.Paterniano), writes:"Quasituttiiquadri . . . furono levati mentre erasi finito di stampare il presente Libro."

79. S A N T A S O F I A (formerly), Vestibule. Paintings by Leonardo Bassano : four Symbols of the Evangelists.

1

Corner, Ecclesiae Venetae, XII, 440-441 (Notizie Storiche, S30-531). 2 Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 192. 3 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 195. 4 Boschini, Minere, 404 (Ricche Minere, Dorso Duro, 76). 5 Hermitage, no. 8364; M. Dobroklonsky, Italian Drawings of the XVth and XVIth Centuries in the Hermitage, Leningrad, 1940, no. 248. H. Tietze and E. Tietze Conrat, "Venetian Drawings in the Hermitage," Art Bulletin, XXVII, 1945, 150, make a tentative association with the ceiling of San Giuliano (Cat. no. 6). Differences of composition and format speak against this. N. Ivanoff, as quoted in [L. Saltnina], Disegni veneti del Museo di Leningrado, Venice (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Istituto di Storia dell'Arte, Cataloghi di Mostre, XX), 1964, no. 28, has called it a first idea for the ceiling of the Albergo of the Scuola di San Fantin (Cat. no. 23 above), which it resembles not at all. 6 G. Tassini, Curiosità veneziane, Venice, '1933, 189.

134

1

Boschini, Minere, 435 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 24); Zanetti, Descrizione, 391. 2 Lorenzetti, Venezia, 412 (2d edition, 419).

80. S A N S T A B (formerly), Sanctuary. Paintings by Leonardo Corona : Rain of Mama and Sacrifice of Melchizedek. The paintings are mentioned briefly in Ridolfi's life of Corona 1 and more fully by Boschini.2 In 1683 began a total reconstruction of the church,3 after which Corona's paintings were to be seen for some years hanging on the sanctuary walls.4 In 1768 new paintings by Giuseppe Angeli were put in

Lost: Churches and Monasteries their place. 5 What became of Corona's pictures is not known.

The second edition of Sansovino's Venetia, prepared in 1603, speaks in general terms of the Chapel's ceiling and of pictures by Palma, "fatte ultimamente." 1 The subject of the central painting is described by Boschini. 2 After that the ceiling passes out of view; presumably it fell victim to the reconstruction of the church, begun in 1683.3

1 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 103. 2 Boschini, Minere, 518 {Ricche Minere, Croce, 16). » The date is given by D . Martinelli, Ritratto di Venezia, Venice, 2 i705, 344. 4 Zanetti, Descrizione, 438. 5 P. Gradenigo, Notìzie d'arte . . .dai notatoli e dagli annali, ed. L. Livan, Venice (Deputazione di Storia Patria, Miscellanea di Studi e Memorie, V), 1942, 172.

81.

(formerly), Chapel of the Holy Sacrament. Paintings by Palma Giovane: Moses Striking Water from the Rock of Horeb, and subsidiary, unidentified pictures.

1 Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 164. 2 Boschini, Minere, 518 (Ricche Minere, Croce, 16). 3 The date is given by D. Martinelli, Ritratto di Venezia, Venice, 2 I7°5, 344-

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CONFRATERNITIES

del sec. XVI, no. 414 (illus.). 5 Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 92; Boschini, Minere, 127 (Ricche Minere, San Marco, 99).

82. S C U O L A D I SAN F A N T I N (formerly), Sala Terrena. Paintings by Tintoretto(?). Sansovino's description of Venice of 1581 mentions a ceiling by Tintoretto in the oratory or downstairs hall of the Scuola di San Fantin.1 No other record of it is known, and it does not exist today. Presumably it fell victim to the reconstruction of the Scuola that began in 1580 and was near completion in 1584..2 By 1600 in any case there was no longer a soffitto in the downstairs hall, for in August of that year the confraternity voted to "dar compimento di adornar la nostra Scholia quali è il far del sofitto da baso . . ." 3 Whether the paintings of the vanished ceiling were actually by Tintoretto is a moot question. Sansovino's text reads: "Et in questo [Oratorio] si vede la palla dell'altare con San Hieronimo dipinto da Marco del Moro & il soffitto di Mano di Iacomo Tintoretto." The only known altarpiece that fits the description and stems from the Scuola is a painting of The Virgin Appearing to St. Jerome, now in the Accademia.4 But this is by Tintoretto and not Marco del Moro. It is possible that Sansovino was confused. It is also possible that he meant exactly what he said. Seventeenth-century guidebooks in any case place Tintoretto's altarpiece in the Albergo and not the oratory.5

83. S C U O L A D E L L A M A D O N N A D I P I E T À (formerly). Painting by Alvise dal Friso : Assumption of the Virgin. The Scuola della Madonna di Pietà was founded in the spring of 1580.1 Its ceiling is mentioned briefly in Ridolfi's life of Alvise,2 and more fully in the guidebooks of Boschini and Martinelli.3 After that it passes out of view. Zanetti in 1771 lists it among Alvise's works but as "una tavola," which suggests that he had never seen it. 4 The building of the Scuola still exists on the Fondamenta di San Giobbe but has been converted into a private residence.5 1 Catastico delle scole di devozione..., Venice, 173s, 5 (reprinted by C. A. Levi, Notizie storiche di alcune 2 antiche scuole . .., Venice, '1895, 88). Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 143. 3 Boschini, Minere, 489 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 64-65); D. Martinelli, Ritratto di Venezia, Venice, 2 I705, 314. • Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, 275 (2d edition, I, 369); it goes unmentioned in his Descrizione. 5 Tassini, Edifici distrutti, 107; E. A. Cicogna, Delle inscrizioni veneziane, Venice, 1824-1853, VI, ii, 712.

84. S C U O L A D E I M E R C A N T I (formerly), Albergo. Paintings by Domenico Tintoretto and Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense). In the center: Coronation of the Virgin, by Domenico Tintoretto. At the sides: four Evangelists and four Doctors of the Church, by Aliense.

1

Sansovino, Venetia, 51. 2 See Cat. no. 23. 3 G. Pavanello, "La Scuola di San Fantin ora Ateneo Veneto," Ateneo Veneto, XXXVII, 1914, 49, n. 2. See also Cat. no. 24 above. 4 Moschini Marconi, Accademia: opere

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Lost:

Confraternities 129-130, 146. 5 Bendetto Caliari's Birth of the Virgin and Paolo Veronese's Annunciation; cf. Moschini Marconi, Accademia: Opere del sec. XVI, nos. 129 and 144.

In 1570 the Scuola dei Mercanti merged with the Scuola di San Cristoforo and moved from its original quarters near the Frari to the home of its new partner, adjoining Santa Maria dell'Orto. A complete rebuilding of the structure was begun immediately, as an inscription over the entrance testifies.1 By 1572 the renovation was complete and the confraternity was at odds with Palladio, the architect, over the fees due to him. 2 Decoration of the restored building began with the Albergo or board room. Four artists (Domenico Tintoretto, Palma Giovane, Veronese, and Benedetto Caliari) delivered as many paintings for the walls.3 One of them, Domenico Tintoretto, also supplied the centerpiece of the ceiling. A fifth painter, Aliense, executed the subsidiary figures. The date of the soffitto is unknown, but three of the room's wall paintings are known to have been executed in, respectively, 1576, 1577, and 1581.4 On analogy with the sequence of work in the Scuola's Sala Superiore (Cat. no. 85), where painting of the ceiling was begun immediately after completion of the wall decoration, the ceiling of the Albergo was perhaps taken in hand soon after the last of these dates, that is, in the early 1580's. The soffitto's centerpiece completed a mural cycle of Marian scenes that began with a Birth of the Virgin by Benedetto Caliari and ended in the altarpiece of The Assumption by Domenico Tintoretto. When the Venetian confraternities were suppressed in 1806, all the paintings in the room were seized by the state. Two of the Albergo's wall paintings eventually reached the galleries of the Accademia at Venice.5 The other pictures and in particular those of the ceiling disappeared.

85.

(formerly), Sala Superiore. Paintings by Jacopo(?) and Domenico Tintoretto and Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense). In the center (from Albergo to altar): Moses Striking Water from the Rock, by Domenico Tintoretto; The Brazen Serpent, by Jacopo Tintoretto(?); and The Rain of Manna, by Aliense. On the south side: The Fall of Man, The Column of Fire (and one further, unknown scene?), by Domenico Tintoretto. On the north side: The Expulsion from Paradise, The Worship of the Golden Calf, and The Deliverance of fonah, by Domenico Tintoretto. In December, 1592, Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto and Aliense contracted to paint one picture each for the central register of the ceiling over the Sala Superiore.1 Whether they actually carried out their respective paintings is unknown. Boschini and the later guidebooks assign the entire ceiling to Domenico Tintoretto. It may be therefore that the septuagenarian Jacopo never laid hand to the picture commissioned from him (he died in May, 1594).2 The cycle eventually came to at least eight paintings. That is, Boschini and the later guides list two pictures in the south row, and three each in the central and north rows. There may have been still another on the south.

1 E. A. Cicogna, Delle inscrizioni veneziane, Venice, 1824-1853, II, 346-347. 2 R . Gallo, "Andrea Palladio e Venezia," Rivista di Venezia, N.S., I, 1955, 36-41. 3 Cf. Boschini, Minere, 453 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 37). 4 G. Ludwig, Archivalische Beiträge zur Geschichte der Venezianischen Kunst, ed. W. Bode, G. Gronau, and D. von Hadeln, Berlin (Italienische Forschungen, IV), 1911,

137

The Old Testament subjects of the ceiling, and in particular the choice of scenes in the central file, call to mind the soffitto of the Sala Superiore of the Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 29). The fact that the aged Jacopo Tintoretto was commissioned to paint the centerpiece himself, the subject of which was to duplicate that of the other ceiling's centerpiece, suggests that the similarity was deliberate. Of the eight known subjects all but two (Expulsion from Paradise, Worship of the Golden Calf) do in fact reproduce scenes represented

Catalogue On the ceiling were the Passion of Christ and his Evangelists, by the former. "When the Scuola was disbanded in 1806, its works of art were brought to the domanial deposits and from there dispersed. All of the room's paintings have disappeared, with the exception of the altarpiece, which has been found in a provincial parish church near Bergamo. 2

in the Scuola di San Rocco. However, they do not seem here to obey a coherent, theological system such as governs the cycle at San Rocco, nor is there any discernible agreement between them and the cycle of scenes from the youth of Christ and Mary which decorated the walls. The central file of ceiling pictures had a sacramental, especially a Eucharistie, meaning. But it is difficult to bring the lateral rows into relationship with either it or the New Testament matter on the walls. Removed to the domanial deposits when the Scuola was disbanded in 1806, all but two of the room's pictures have disappeared.3

1 Boschini, Minere, 450 (Ricche Minere, Canareggio, 34); Zanetti, Descriztone, 399-400. 2 M . Pittaluga, "Notizie del Tintoretto," L'Arte, XXIII, 1920, 241-244.

87. S C U O L A D E L L A P A S S I O N E (formerly), Sala Superiore. Paintings by Palma Giovane. In the center: The Resurrection; near it, four paintings, each with A Prophet and A Sibyl; in the corners: four paintings, each with An Evangelist.

1

G. Ludwig, Archivalische Beiträge zur Geschichte der Venezianischen Kunst, ed. W. Bode, G. Gronau, and D. von Hadeln, Berlin (Italienische Forschungen, IV), 1911, 131. 2 Similarly, D. von Hadeln, in Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 64, n. 4; cf. Boschini, Minere, 452-453 (Riedle Minere, Canareggio, 36-37), or Zanetti, Descrizione, 401. 3 Aliense's Annunciation and Visitation, from the cycle of wall paintings, are now in the Seminario Patriarcale in Venice; cf. V. Moschini, Le raccoite del Seminario di Venezia, Rome (Itinerari dei Musei e Monumenti d'ltalia, LXXVT), 1940,6.

86.

After the six Scuole Grandi, the Scuola della Passione was the most important of the Venetian confraternities. In its final form, its building in Campo Santa Maria dei Frari dated from after 1588, when the previous building burned. Completion of a restoration was celebrated in 1593 by the placing of an inscription over the entrance.1 But the decoration of the interior seems to have continued for some years beyond that date; thus the altar of the chapel was dated 1602.2 At the suppression of the confraternity in 1810, the building became a private house and its works of art were dispersed.3 Our only records of the ceiling are the descriptions in the old guides.4

(formerly), Stanza Terrena. Paintings by Domenico Tintoretto. In the middle: eleven scenes from the Passion of Christ. At the corners: (ovaEvangelists. The decorations of the ground-floor hall of the Scuola are described by Boschini and the later guidebooks.1 On the altar was an altarpiece by Jacopo Tintoretto of the Virgin and Child with St. Christopher, which commemorated the patron saint of the original owners of the building, the Scuola di San Cristoforo. On the walls were fourteen narrative scenes by Domenico from the life of the same saint and a Lamentation of the Christ whom St. Christopher had carried, by Domenico Tintoretto and Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense).

i Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Stringa, 198; G. Tassini, Edifici distrutti, 66. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. * Boschini, Minere, 304 (Ricche Minere, San Polo, 45-56); D. Martinelli, Il ritratto di Venezia, Venice, 2 I705, 396; Zanetti, Descrizione, 299.

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88. G R A N A R I P U B B L I C I [ C A S A R I A DI SAN M A R C O , FABBRICHE DI T E R R A N U O V A ] (formerly), Magistrate delle Legne, Audience Room. Paintings by (Jacopo?) Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese. In the center: an octagon of Hercules and Neptune Before Venice Enthroned on the Globe, by Veronese. To the sides; five Portraits of Senators, by Tintoretto.

BUILDINGS

was noticed by von Hadeln, who assumed the Budapest painting was the missing original. 7 It may be objected that the existing painting is rather too small for the centerpiece of a ceiling (141 x 141). Furthermore, the paint is too thin and the handling too watery for a work by Veronese. It seems likely that the Budapest painting is a copy and that the original remains to be found. •Ridolfi, Maraviglie, I, 316. 2 Boschini, Minere, 99 (Ricche Minere, San Marco, 76). 3 D. Lovisa, II Gran Teatro di Venezia, Venice, n.d. [ = ca. 1720], II. 4 G. Nicoletti, Documenti fotti dal magistrato del Sale relativi a restauri di quadri dei Palazzi Ducale e di Rialto, Venice [per nozze Giacomelli-Barozzi], 1886, 16. 5 Tassini, Edifici distrutti, 39. The precise location of the Magistrato is shown on a manuscript plan of the granaries, preserved in the Museo Correr (Raccolta Gherro, vol. XIV, no. 1797). 6 A. Pigler, Orzdgos Szépmiiveszeti Müzeum: A Règi Kèptdr Katalógusa, Budapest, I, 1954, 608, no. 105.139 (as Veronese). Pyrker had collected extensively in Venice during his term as Patriarch of Venice (18211827); G. von Térey, Die Gemäldegalerie des Museums für Bildende Künste in Budapest, Berlin, 1916,1, x. ? R i dolfi, loc. dt., n. 2.

The centerpiece of the ceiling in the Magistrate delle Legne was first mentioned by Ridolfi in his life of Veronese.1 The portraits on the other hand are first listed by Boschini, who says they are "del Tintoretto," which may mean either Jacopo or Domenico. 2 Engraved in the early eighteenth century, 3 the centerpiece was reported to be in poor condition in 1762 by the Collegio dei Pittori, who had conducted a survey of paintings in public buildings at the behest of the government. 4 The Magistracy for Firewood was located in the far southwest corner of the granaries overlooking the Bacino di San Marco, and was destroyed when these were pulled down in 1807 to make a garden for the Royal Palace, installed in the neighboring Procuratie.5 Veronese's painting at that time disappeared from view. But in 1836 the gift of Archbishop Ladislas Pyrker to the National Museum of Budapest included a painting identical in composition with Veronese's vanished picture (fig. 72).6 The connection

89. P A L A Z Z O D U C A L E (formerly), Sala della Libreria ( dei Pregadi, dello Scrutino). Paintings by Giovanni Antonio da Pordenone. In the ceiling: Moral Virtues (destroyed). In the frieze: Putti, Trophies, and Marine Monsters (lost). The room which briefly housed the Library of St. Mark was the principal room in the early fifteenth-century wing of the palace (overlooking the Piazetta) and was originally 139

Catalogue known as the Sala Nuovissima. In 1468 it was chosen to house the library of Cardinal Bessarion, then newly donated to the Republic. It became known as the Sala della Libreria, a name it continued to bear in the sixteenth century, although after 1485 the books were not kept there but on the mezzanine floor above. 1 Between 1527 and 1531 Sebastiano Serlio designed a coffered ceiling for this room. It is illustrated by a woodcut in Book IV of his architectural treatise, where it is said that the design takes account of the disproportionate lowness of the room (fig. 21). 2 In 1531 it was decided to adapt the Sala for the use of the Pregadi and for voting sessions of the Great Council. The mezzanine floor was removed together with Serlio's new ceiling, the windows were rebuilt (presumably they had been on two levels before), a tribunal and benches were installed, and a new ceiling was provided.3 In December, 1532, the ceiling had not yet been begun but the conversion was otherwise complete, and a vote was held in the room for the first time. A month later Jacopo Soranzo was appointed to oversee the construction of a sofiitto.4 We hear of Pordenone being at work on its paintings in the middle of 1535. 5 B y March, 1538, the ceiling itself was finished; by December of that year also the frieze at the join of walls and ceiling was complete.6

mously published guidebook to Venice of 1556, 10 and described it briefly from notes or memory in his encyclopedic handbook of Venice of 1581. He writes that it was "distinto in tre quadri," and painted, "con arte maravigliosa, per gli scorci, per i nudi, & per l'inventione." 11 Finally, Ridolfi—whose knowledge of the Ducal Palace before the fire was derived from an unknown source— describes the ceiling as "diviso in tre gran vani," and decorated with "morali virtù accomodate in vari e difficili scorci; e nel giro del muro un fregio inserito de' fanciulli di militari arnesi e d'altri capricci." 12 The composite result of the descriptions may be summarized as follows: the ceiling was divided into three main sections and contained many pictures of moral virtues, some of them nude, seen in foreshortening. Below the ceiling ran a frieze of putti, trophies, and marine monsters.13 The ceiling by Scrlio previously in the room consisted of three large squares each containing four smaller squares. Since the room does not seem to have been shortened when it was rebuilt, we may assume that the three main divisions of Pordenone's ceiling also were square. This would explain Sansovino's words "distinto in tre quadri" while Ridolfi writes "tre vani." The arrangement of the pictures within the fields is uncertain. It is tempting to think that perhaps parts of Serlio's ceiling were reused and that his woodcut preserves at least the major articulations of Pordenone's destroyed soffitto.

The fire of 1577 destroyed Pordenone's ceiling but not the frieze, which had been moved to the Sala delle Munitioni at the Arsenal twenty-two years before.7 It later disappeared, a victim perhaps of the French sack of the Arsenal in 1797. 8 Three descriptions of the decoration survive. The earliest is Vasari's, and is based on impressions of his visit to Venice in 1 5 4 1 1542. He speaks of "molti quadri di figure che scortano al disotto in su, che bellissime sono tenute: et similmente un fregio di mostri marini lavorati a olio intorno a detta sala."® Sansovino praised the ceiling in his pseudony-

1 G. Lorenzetti, "La Libreria Sansoviniana di Venezia," Accademie e Biblioteche d'Italia, II, 1928/1929, iv, 73_77- 2 S. Serlio, Regoli generali di architettura ..., Venice, 1537, lxxi-lxxxii. The dates are outside limits: in 1527 Serlio left R o m e ; in 1531 the room was renovated. 3 Lorenzi, Monumenti, nos. 4 1 1 , 414. 4 M . Sanudo, I Diarii, Venice, 1879-1903, LVII, cols. 290, 447. s G. Ludwig, "Archivalische Beitrage zur Geschichte der venezianischen Malerei," Prussian Jahrbuch, XXVI, 1905, Beiheft, 126-127. 6 Lorenzi, op. cit., nos. 466, 472. Cf. also nos. 447, 449, 460, 463. 7 Ibid., nos. 541, 545. 8 G. Casoni, Guida per l'Arsenale, Venice, 1829, 111-113, citing anon., Nota degli effetti tolti dalli Francesi dal Veneto Arsenale, Venice, Biblioteca Civica Correr, COD CICOGN. 3059, vi, ff. 5V-6. » G. Vasari,

140

Lost: Public

them are Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, several Muses, Venice, twelve of her dependencies, nymphs, Liberty, Wealth, Prudence, Fame, and Time. The tableau is not divided into groups forming recognizable, independent compositions, and the associations between figures for the most part are literary rather than visual. It is impossible to extract from this turgid material an image of the paintings that were Zannio's starting point.

Le vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, e scultori italiani . . . , Florence, II, 1550, 792. 1 0 A. Guisconi [F. Sansovino], Tutte le cose notabili e belle che sono in Venetia, Venice, iss6, A-iiij. For Sansovino's authorship of the book, see D. von Hadeln's remarks in Ridolfi, Maraviglie, I, xv. 1 1 Sansovino, Venetia, 124V. 1 2 Ridolfi, op. cit., I, 123. 13 Von Hadeln suggests in n. 4 to Ridolfi, loc. cit., that the three descriptions do not agree, but I see no real discrepancies between them.

90.

Buildings

(formerly), Sala dell'Anticollegio. Paintings by Giuseppe Salviati (della Porta). Several large pictures, sixteen "triangoli grandi di azuro oltra marin," and eight "triangoli pizoli" with "teste de charabini."

1 Lorenzi, Monumettti, nos. 660-661, 705, 710, 714, 719, 722, 724, 726. 2 Ibid., no. 726. 3 Sansovino, Venetia, 122. * F. Zannio, Explicatio picturae quam nuperrime Josephus Salviatus venetiis in aula iucali exaravit, Venice, 1567.

The ceiling of the Anticollegio was constructed in 1561-1562 and gilded and painted in 1566-1567. The progress of this work is documented in the archives of the Council of Ten.1 The decoration must have comprised several large pictures besides the triangoli, given the size of the room (it occupied the site of the present-day Sala delle Quattro Porte) and of the payments to Salviati. While the triangoli were recompensed at the rate of 70 ducats the lot, Salviati's other work on the ceiling had been fixed contractually at 600 ducats.2 The soffitto was destroyed in the fire of 1574. Beyond a summary description, published several years later by Sansovino,3 there exists a long descriptive poem written in 1567 by Francesco Zannio.4 It is an allegory on the virtues of the Venetian state, its wealth and that of its territories, enacted by mythological figures and various personifications. Among

91. P A L A Z Z O P A T R I A R C A L E (formerly), Sala dell'Audienza. Painting by Palma Giovane: Cardinal Vendramin, Patriarch of Venice, Attended by the Three Theological Virtues and Putti with the Biretta, Mitre, and Corno Ducale (oval). The decoration of the ceiling of the main room of the patriarchal palace was part of a general modernization of the building carried out by Cardinal Francesco Vendramin, the Patriarch of Venice from 1605 to 1619.1 The dates of his term of office provide an approximate date for these works and in particular for the ceiling of the Audience Room, which is described by all the older writers.2 It disappeared when the palace was converted into a barracks in 1807.3 1 Sansovino, Venetia, ed. Martinioni, 19. 2 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, II, 198; Boschini, Minere, 153 (Ricche Minere, Castello, 4). 3 Tassini, Edifici distrutti, 9.

141

LOST: PRIVATE

BUILDINGS

which had been assigned to him and his brothers in 1524 in a division of the family estate.1 Over a period o f t e n years or more, six rooms and the staircase were provided with vault decorations by Giovanni da Udine, Francesco Salviati, Battista Franco, Camillo Mantovano, and others. 2 A seventh room was provided with a painted ceiling by Salviati, Camillo, and Francesco Menzocchi of Forll. The date of the latter decoration is fixed by the known dates of Salviati's stay in Venice, 1539 to 1540 or 1541.3 The subjects and shapes of five pictures and the names of their painters are known from Vasari's Lives and the old guidebooks. 4 One must imagine the paintings by Menzocchi to have been arranged symmetrically around Salviati's octagon. The ceiling was in a room on the east side of the palace, overlooking the Rio di San Severo. It survived intact until shortly before 1815, when the paintings were removed and hung on the walls of the room while copies were substituted on the ceiling.5 The originals were still so exhibited in 1840.6 After the death of the last Grimani in 1864 the palace changed hands rapidly several times, was offered to and refused by the state, and ended in 1897 as the showrooms of the "Venice Art Company." 7 In the interval the paintings and the ceiling had disappeared. A record of Salviati's composition has been preserved in a chiaroscuro woodcut by Antonio da Trento or Nicolo Vicentino. 8 The

92. C A S A B O Z Z A A S A N T A M A R I N A (formerly), Unidentified room. Paintings by Andrea Schiavone: Aurora and Tithonus and Bacchus and Other Deities. Ceiling paintings of these subjects by Schiavone were mentioned fleetingly by Ridolfi in 1648.1 However, when the Casa Bozza was inventoried in 1680 they were no longer there. 2 Their fate is unknown. 1 Ridolfi, Maraviglie, I, 256. 2 C. A. Levi, Le collezioni veneziane d'arte e d'antichità . . . , Venice, II, 1900, 64-66; now also S. Savini Branca, JI collezionismo veneziano nel Seicento, Padua, 1964, 155-157. The inventory does mention two oval pictures by Schiavone of Mars, Venus, and Apollo and "otto Deità" which may have been ceiling pictures.

93. P A L A Z Z O G R I M A N I A S A N T A M A R I A F O R M O S A (formerly), U n identified room. Paintings by Francesco Salviati, Francesco Menzocchi, and Camillo Mantovano. In the center: an octagon of Psyche Worshiped as a Goddess, by Salviati. At the sides: Cupid Falling in Love with Psyche, Psyche Stealing a Glance at Cupid, Psyche in the Underworld, and Psyche Before Proserpine, by Menzocchi. On all sides: ornamental festoons, by Camillo. In the second half of the 1530's Giovanni Grimani, then Bishop of Ceneda, later Patriarch of Aquileia, began an extensive redecoration of the Grimani Palace's first floor,

142

Lost: Private Buildings artist's drawing for the figure of Psyche survives at Budapest.9 These show that the scene was viewed from eye level rather than from below. The decoration as a whole therefore may have been a Roman system of seeming easel paintings fixed onto the ceiling, that is, quadri

riportati.

1 R . Gallo, "Michele Sanmicheli a Venezia," Michele Stmmicheli: Studi raccolti dall'Accademia di... Verona per la celebrazione del IV centenario della morte, Verona, i960, 126-127. 2 P - Paschini, "Il mecenatismo artistico del Patriarca Giovanni Grimani," Studi in onore di A. Calderini e R. Paribeni, Milan, III, 1956, 852-855. See also: Vasari, Vite, VI, 323-324, S62, and VII, 18-19; V . Marpillero, "L'Opera di Giovanni da Udine nel Palazzo G r i m a n i . . . , " La Panarie, no. lxxiv, 1937, 106-108; M . Hirst, "Three Ceiling Decorations by Francesco Salviati," ZeitschriftfurKunstgeschichte,XXVl, 1963,146156; I. H. Cheney, "Francesco Salviati's North Italian Journey," Art Bulletin, X L V , 1963, 337-344; W . R . Rearick, "Battista Franco and the Grimani Chapel," Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte, II, 1958/1959,121-122. 3 Cheney, op. cit., 337-338. •Vasari, op. cit., VI, 323324; VII, 18. The fullest description: Moschini, Guida, I, 203-209. 5 Ibid. A ceiling on the south side o f the

143

palace, with a round picture in the center and oblong pictures on the four sides, is identified as the Psyche ceiling by L. Filippini Baldani, "Francesco Menzocchi pittore forlivese e la Villa I m p e r i a l e . . . , " vi, Melozzo da Forlì, no. 7 (Aprii, 1939), 376. But the paintings, which, according to Moschini, loc. cit., are by the eighteenth-century Veronese artist Giovanni Fazioli, do not represent the Psyche legend. The centerpiece differs from Salviati's picture in composition and format as well, so that on all counts the identification seems mistaken. 6 G. A . Moschini, Nuova guida per Venezia, Venice, 1840, 63. Cheney, op. cit., 341, n. 28, errs in reading the annotations o f the Milanesi edition o f Vasari (Vite, VI, 324, n. I, and VII, 19, n. 1) to mean that the pictures still existed in Palazzo Grimani at Milanesi's time (18 81). The notes were taken verbatim from the 1832-1838 edition of Vasari; cf. Milanesi's explanation of his notes, Vite, I, 247, n. i . ? C . A. Levi, Le collezioni veneziane d'arte e d'antichità ..., Venice, I, 1900, lxi. It is still the property o f a firm o f antique dealers today, Guido Minerbi & C o . 8 H. Voss, "Kompositionen des Francesco Salviati in der italienischen Graphik des X V I Jahrhunderts," Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für vervielfältigende Kunst, X X X V , 1912, 62; Z . Weixlgärtner, "Ein später Glossator des Vasari," Graphischen Künste, N.F., V , 1938/1939, 125. Illus. Cheney, op. cit., fig. 6. » Cheney, op. cit., 341-342, fig. 5.

PLATES

PLATE I Santa Maria degli Angeli (Murano), v i e w of ceiling. Paintings by Nicolò Rondinclli, before 1495 (Cat. 110. 8).

PLATE

2 Nicolò Rondinclli, The Coronation oj the Virgin, Doctors of the Church, and Evangelist Symbols. Santa Maria degli Angeli, Murano (Cat. no. 8).

PLATE

3 Pier Maria Pennacchi and assistants, Malachi, Elijah, Nahuni, Salomon, and Zadok. Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Cat. no. 12).

P L A T E 4 S a n t a M a r i a dei M i r a c o l i , v i e w o f i n t e r i o r . C e i l i n g p a i n t i n g s b v P i e r M a r i a P e n n a c c h i a n d assistants, b e f o r e 1 5 1 5 ( C a t . n o . 1 2 ) .

PLATE S Scuola di San Francesco (formerly), ceiling of Stanza Terrena. Paintings by Pordenone, ca. 1532 (Cat. no. 25).

PLATE 6 Palazzo Corner-Spinelli (formerly), ceiling of an unidentified room. Paintings by Giorgio Vasari, 1542 (Cat. no. 50).

PLATF 7 Pordenone, St. Luhe, f r o m the Scuola di San Francesco (Cat. no. 25). Budapest, Mnsée des Beaux Arts.

PLATE 8 Giorgio Vasari, Faith, f r o m Palazzo Corner-Spinelli (Cat. no. 50). Whereabouts unknown.

PLATE i o Tintoretto, Apollo and Marsyas, f r o m the house o f Pietro Aretino, 1545 (Cat. no. 46). Hartford, C o n n . , W a d s w o r t h Atheneum.

WEST

PLATE rr Santo Spirito in Isola (formerly), ceiling. Paintings by Titian, 1542-1544 (Cat. no. 20).

PLATE j 2 T i t i a n , Cain and Abel, f r o m S a n t o S p i r i t o ili Isola (Cat. n o . 20). V e n i c e , Santa M a r i a della Salute, Sagrestia M a g g i o r e .

PI.ATI: 1 3 Titian, The Sacrifice of Abraham, f r o m Santo Spirito in Isola (Cat. no. 20). Venicc, Santa Maria della Salute, Sagrestia Maggiore.

PLATE 13 Titian, The Sacrifia• of Abraham, detail.

PLATE 1 6 Titian, The Vision oj St. John on Patmos, from the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista (Cat. no. 26). Washington, National Gallery, Kress Collection.

2

WEST

EAST

PLATE 17 Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, Albergo N u o v o (formerly), ceiling. Paintings b y Titian and assistants, ca. 1544-1547 (Cat. no. 26).

PLATE 18 Studio of Bonifazio Veronese, An Allegory of Night, from the Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza, ca. 1554 (Cat. no. 49). Sarasota, Fla., J . and M. Ringling Museum.

PLATE 19 Studio of Bonifazio Veronese, An Allegory of Harvest, from the Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza, ca. 1554 (Cat. no. 49). Sarasota, Fla., J . and M . Ringling Museum.

PLATE 20 Palazzo Ducalo, Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci, v i e w . Ceiling paintings by Veronese, Ciovanni Battista Zeiotti, and Giovanni Battista Ponchino, en. 1 5 5 3 - 1 5 5 4 (Cat. no. 35).

PLATE 21

Veronese, Jove Expelling

Crimes and Vices, f r o m the Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci (Cat. no. 35). Paris, L o

PLATE 22 Veronese, Juno Showering Riches over Venice,

PIATE 23 Veronese, "Youth and Age,"

Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci (Cat. no. 35).

Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci (Cat. no. 35).

PLATE 25 Giovanni Battista Zclotti, Venice Between Neptune and Mars, Sala del Consiglio dei Dicci (Cat. 110. 35).

PLATE 26 Giovanni Battista Zelotti,

PLATE 27 Giovanni Battista Ponchino, Merairy and Peace,

Venice Seated on the Globe,

Sala del Consiglio dei Dicci (Cat. no. 35).

Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci (Cat. no. 35).

PLATE 30 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Male Nude,

PLATE 31 Veronese, Male Nude,

Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci (Cat. no. 35).

Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci (Cat. no. 35).

PLATE 3 2 Palazzo D u c a l e , Sala della Bussola, v i e w . C e i l i n g paintings b y Veronese, ca. 1 5 5 4 (Cat. 110. 36).

I

PI.ATE 33 Veronese, Fama, Sala della Bussola (Cat. no. 36).

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'

PEATE 34 V e r o n e s e , Fama, Sala della Bussola (Cat. no. 36).

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J PLATE 35 Veronese, Scenes of War, Sala della Bussola (Cat. no. 36).

PLATE 36 Veronese, St. Mark Crowning the Theological Virtues, f r o m the Sala della Bussola (Cat. no. 36). Paris, Louvre.

PLATE 37 Veronese, Triumphal Procession, Sala della Bussola (Cat. no. 36).

PLATE 38 Palazzo Ducale, Stanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Dieci, view. Ceiling paintings by Veronese, Zelotti, and Ponchino, ca. 1554 (Cat. no. 37).

PLATE 39 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Time, Truth, and Innocence Rescued from Envious Attacks by the Expulsion of Evil, Stanza dei Tre Capi (Cat. no. 37).

PLATE 40 Veronese, Art Allegory of Victory,

PLATE 41 Veronese, An Allegory of Nemesis,

Stanza dei Tre Capi (Cat. 110. 37).

Stanza dei Tre Capi (Cat. no. 37).

PLATE 42 Giovanni Battista Ponchino, An Allegory of Jtistice, Stanza dei Tre Capi (Cat. no. 37).

PLATE 44 Veronese, St. Matthew, San Sebastiano, sacristy (Cat. no. 18).

PLATE 4 j Veronese, The Coronation of the Virgin, San Sebastiano, sacristy (Cat. no. 18).

PLATE 46 Veronese, St. Mark, San Sebastiano, sacristy (Cat. no. 18).

PLATE 4.8 San Sebastiano, ceiling, detail (after cleaning).

PLATE 49 Veronese, Esther Led to Ahasuerus, San Sebastiano (Cat. no. 19).

PLATE 52 V e r o n e s e , Esther Crowned

by Ahasuerus,

detail.

PLATE 53 V e r o n e s e , The

Triumph

oj Mordecai,

detail.

PLATE 54 Libreria di San Marco, reading r o o m , view. Ceiling paintings by Giuseppe Salviati, Andrea Schiavonc, Veronese, Giovanni Battista Zelotti, and others, 1 5 5 6 - 1 5 5 7 (Cat. 110. 33).

PLATE 55 Libreria di San Marco, reading r o o m , ceiling, detail. Painting of The Theological Virtues and the Godi by Giovanni Fratino (De Mio) (Cat. 110. 33).

PLATE 56 Giuseppe Salviati, Mercury and Pluto with the Arts, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PLATE 57 Giuseppe Salviati, Pallas atu/ Prudente Betweeu Fortune and Fortitude, Libreria di San M a r c o (Cat. no. 33).

l'LATE

58 Battista Franco, Diana and Actai'on, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PIATE J9 Giulio Licinio, Glory and Beatìtude, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PIATE 60 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, An Allegory of Study, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PIATE 61 Giovanni Battista Zelotti, An Allegory of Modesty, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PLATE 62 Veronese, An Allegory of Honor, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PLATE 63 Veronese, An Allegory of Geometry and Arithmetic, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PLATF. 64. Veronese, An Allegory of Music, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PLATE 65 Andrea Schiavone, The Principale, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PLATE 66 Andrea Schiavone, The Priesthood, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

PLATE 67 Andrea Schiavone, The Miìitary Estate, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 33).

WEST

EAST

PLATE 68 Santa Maria dell'Umiltà (formerly), ceiling. Paintings by Veronese, before 1566 (Cat. no. 14).

Ì'LAI i 6 9 V e r o n e s e ,

i'hc Annwiciiitioti,

troni Santa M a r i a d e l l ' U m i l t à (Cat.

V e m e c , S a n t i G i o v a n n i e P a o l o , C a p p e l l a del R o s a r i o .

P I A T E 7 0 V e r o n e s e , l'Ili' Aimunciation,

detail.

PLATE 71 Veronese, The Assumption of the Virgin, detail.

PLATE 72 Veronese, Ceres Be/ore Venice, Peace, and Hercules, from the Magistrato alle Biade, ca. 1570 (Cat. no. 39). Venice, Gallerie dell'Accademia.

PIATE 73 Palazzo Ducale, Sala del CoIIegio, ceiling. Paintings by Veronese, 1576-1578 (Cat. no. 41).

PLATE 74 Veronese, Mars and Neptune,

Sala del Collegio (Cat. no. 4 1 ) .

PLATE 75 Veronese, Justkc and Peace Before Venice Enthroned on the Globe, Sala del Collegio (Cat. no. 41).

PLATE 77 Veronese, Industry, Sala del Collegio (Cat. no. 41).

n u m i i t » i n m m m r a m i ! 11 « i r r r m 11

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PLATE 78 Libreria di San Marco, vestibule, v i e w o f ceiling. Murals b y Cristoforo and Stefano R o s a , painting b y Titian, 1559-after 1560 (Cat. no. 34).

immttt

PLATE 79 Titian, An Allegory of Wisdom, Libreria di San Marco (Cat. no. 34).

PLATE 80 Tintoretto, An Allegory of Dreams, from Casa Barbo, ca. 1556 (Cat. 110. 47). Detroit, Institute of Arts.

PLATE 81 Palazzo Ducalc, Salotto Q u a d r a t o (Atrio), detail of ceiling. Paintings by Tintoretto, 1562 or after (Cat. no. 3S).

p i ATE 82 Tintoretto, Doge Girolamo Priuli with Peace, Justice, and St. Jerome, Salotto Quadrato (Cat. no. 38).

PLATE 83 Studio o f Tintoretto, The Judgment of Solomon, Salotto Q u a d r a t o (Cat. no. 38).

84 Scuola di San Rocco, Albergo, view of ceiling. Paintings by Tintoretto, 1 $64-1565 (Cat. no. 28).

PLATE

PLATF.

8 5 Tintoretto, The Apotheosis of St. Rock, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 28).

PLATE 86 Tintoretto, Faith, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 28).

PLATE 87 Tintoretto, The Virgin of Mercy, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 28).

PLATE 88 Tintoretto, Liberality, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 28).

PLATE 89 Palazzo Ducale, Retrostanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Dieci (Sala degli Inquisitori di Stato), view. Ceiling paintings by Tintoretto, 1575-1576 (Cat. no. 40).

PLATE 90 Tintoretto, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Retrostanza dei Tre Capi (Cat. no. 4.0).

PLATE 91 Tintoretto, Faith, Retrostanza dei Tre Capi (Cat. no. 40). (Reproduced in the original format.)

P l a t e 92 Scuola di San R o c c o , Sala Supcriore, v i e w . Ceiling paintings by Tintoretto, 1 5 7 5 - 1 5 7 8 (Cat. no. 29).

PLATE 93 Scuola di San R o c c o , Sala Supcriore, ceiling, detail (Cat. no. 29).

PLATE 94 Tintoretto, Moses Striking Water from the Rock of lloreb, Scuola di San Kocco (Cat. no. 29).

I>L A I H 95 Tintoretto, The Brazen Serpent, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 29).

PLATE 96 Tintoretto, The Rain of Manna, Scuola di Sail Rocco (Cat. no. 29).

LPLATE

97 Tintoretto, Ezekiel's Vision of the Dancing Bones, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 29).

VLATE 98 Tintoretto, Jacob's Dream of the Heavenly Ladder, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 29).

PLATE 99 Tintoretto, The Deliverance of Jonah, Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. 110. 29).

PLATE 100 Tintoretto, God's Appearance to Moses,

PLATE IOI Tintoretto, Elisha Feeding the One Hundred,

Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 29).

Scuola di San Rocco (Cat. no. 29).

PIATE 102 Palazzo D u c a l e , Sala del M a g g i o r C o n s i g l i o , v i e w o f ceiling. C e i l i n g designed b y C r i s t o f o r o S o r t e ; paintings hv Tintoretto, Veronese. Palma G i o v a n e , and others, 1 5 7 8 - 1 5 8 2 (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 103 Palma Giovane, Venice Enthroned Above Her Conquered Provinces, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

p l a t i : 104 Tintorctto and assistants, The Doge Rcceivìug Palm and Laurei front Venice as Diverse States Render 7 heir Syontaneons Subinissioa to the Signoria. Sala del M a g g i o r Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 105 Veronese and assistants, The Apotheosis oj Venice, Sala del M a g g i o r Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE ioó Palma Giovanc, Venice Enthroned Above Her Conquered Provinces, detail.

PLATE 108 Tintoretto, The Doge Receiving Palm and Laurel, detail.

L'I. ATE ioy Tintoretto and assistants, The Repulse of the Milanese Attack on Brescia, ¡438, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 1 1 0 Tintoretto and assistants, The Boarding of the Milanese Fleet on Lake Garda, 1440, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE I N Veronese and assistants, The Repulse of the Turkish Attack on Scutari, 1474, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 1 1 2 Francesco Bassano, The Dejeat of Maxiniilian at Cadore, 1508, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 113 Palma Giovane, The Defeat of the Visconti Fleet near Cremona, 1427, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 114 Palma Giovane, Andrea Gritti Leads the Venetian Reentry into Padua, 1509, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 115 Francesco Montemezzano, Albano Armario Martyred by the Turks, 1493, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 116 Girolamo Padavino, Venetian Galleons Are Transported Overland to Lake Garda, 1439, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

ÌLATE 1 1 7 Leonardo Corona, Caterina Comaro Abdicates the Crown of Cyprus, 1484, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 118 Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense), Bernardo Contarmi Offers to

PLATE 1 1 9 Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense), Carlo Zeno Routs the French

Assassinate Lodovico Sforza, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

Fleet by a Stratagem, 1403, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 120 Pietro Longo, Leonardo Loredan Rejects the Proffered Aid of Bajazeth, 1509, Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Cat. no. 42).

PLATE 1 2 1 Palazzo Ducale, Sala dei Prcgadi, view. Ceiling designed by Cristoforo Sorte paintings b y Tintoretto, Marco Vecellio, Andrea Vicentino, and others (Cat. no. 43).

PLATE

122

Palazzo Ducale, Sala dei Pregadi, detail of ceiling.

PLATE 123 Tintoretto and assistants, Venice Receiving the Tribute of the Sea, Sala dei Pregadi (Cat. no. 43).

PLATE 124 T o m m a s o Dolabella, Doge Pasquale Cicogna Adoring ti te Sacrament, Sala dei Pregadi (Cat. no. 43).

PLATE 125 Marco Vecellio, The Transport of Treasure and Striking of Coins, Sala dei Pregadi (Cat. no. 43).

PLATE 126 Palazzo Ducale, Sala dello Scrutinio, view. Ceiling paintings by Francesco Bassano, Andrea Vicentino, Camillo Ballini, and others (Cat. no. 44).

PIATE 127 Andrea Vicentino, A soldier in Armor, Sala dei Pregadi (Cat. no. 43).

PLATE 128 Studio of Tintoretto, Eloquence, Sala dei Pregadi (Cat. no. 43).

PLATE 129 Andrea Vicentino, The Defeat of the Pisan Fleet off RJiodes, iog8, Sala dello Scrutinio (Cat. no. 44).

PLATE 130 Camillo Ballini, The Defeat of the Genoese Fleet off Trapani, Sala dello Scrutinio (Cat. no. 44).

1265,

PLATE 131 Francesco Bassano, The Capture of Padua, 1405, Sala dello Scrutinio (Cat. no.

PLATE 132 Veronese, The Adoration of the Magi, from San Nicolô ai Frari (Cat. no. 16). Venice, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Cappella del Rosario.

WEST

PLATE 133 San Nicolò ai Frari (formerly), ceiling. Paintings by Veronese and assistants, after 1581 (Cat. no. 16).

PLATE 1 3 4 Palma Giovane, The Assumption of the Virgin, sketch for a ceiling formerly in the Scuola di San Fantm (Cat. no. 23). Venice, Pinacoteca Quenm-Stampalia.

PLATE 1 3 5 Palma Giovane, The Assumption of the Virgin, fragment f r o m a ceiling formerly in the Scuola di San Fantin (Cat. 110. 23). Leningrad, Hermitage.

PLATE 1 3 6 San Gmliano, v i e w o f ceiling. Paintings bv Palma Giovane and Leonardo Corona, before 1585 (Cat. 110. 6).

PLATE 137 Palma Giovane, The Apotheosis of St. Julian, San Giuliano (Cat. no. 6).

PLATE 138 Palma Giovane, The Apotheosis of St. Mary Magdalen, study for the ceiling of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite (Cat. no. 77). Leningrad, Hermitage.

PIATE 139 Palma Giovane, The Gathering oj the Manna, Santa Maria Assunta dei Gesuiti, 1589 (Cat. no. 10).

a

PLATE 140 Palma Giovane, The Coronation of the Virgin, study for the ceiling o f the Cappella del Rosario, Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Cat. no. 72). Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung.

PLATE 141 Santi Giovanni c Paolo, Cappella del Rosario, view before the fire of 1867. Watercolor by Luigi Querena.

\ ?

«tiltI

J

s

£

:

t

s

I I

PLATE 142 Scuola di San Fantin (Ateneo Veneto), Sala Terrena, view. Ceiling paintings by Palma Giovane, 1600-1603 (Cat. no. 24).

»

l'LATF.

144 Palma Giovane, The Oferino

of Alms far Souls in Pwoatory,

Scuola di San Fantin (Cat. no. 24).

PLATE 145 Palma Giovane, Sts. Gregory and Jerome, Scuola di San Fantin (Cat. 110. 2.

PLATE 146 Palma Giovane, Sls. Augustine and Ambrose, Scuola di San Fantin (Cat. no.

PLATE 147 Palma Giovane, Souls in the Fire of Purgatory, Scuola di San Fantin (Cat. no. 24).

PIATE 148 Cadetto Caliari, St. Nicholas iti

the Theological Virtues and a Carmelite Saint,

from San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, ca. 1590 (Cat. no. 17). Venicc, Depositi della Soprintendenza alle Gallerie.

PLATE 149 Francesco Montemezzano, The Apotheosis of St. Nicholas, San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, ca. 1590 (Cat. no. 17).

PLATE 150 Leonardo Corona, St. Nicholas Ordering the Felling of the Heathen Grove, San Nicolò dei Mcndicoli, ca. 1590 (Cat. no. 17).

M.ATE 1 5 '

San Franccsco di Paola, v i e w o f cciling. Paintings b y G i o v a n n i C o n t a n n i , b e f o r e 1 6 0 0 (Cat. no. 1).

INDEX

INDEX Bold-faced numbers indicate numbers in the Catalogue. The alphabetical order of Italian names takes no account of prepositions such as a, da, or di. Bardi, Girolamo, 42, 43 Bassano, Francesco da Ponte called, 49", 42, 44, pis. 1 1 2 , 1 3 1 Bassano, Jacopo da Ponte called, 14 Bassano, Leandro da Ponte called, 79 B A S S A N O , Museo Civico, 14 Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio. See Sodoma Bellini, Giovanni, 23°, 46, 67, fig. 3 Benfatto. See Alvise dal Friso

Wiirtt., Schloss Fachsenfeld, 104, fig. 82 Abbondi, Antonio, 75 Agapiti, Pietro Paolo, 15, fig. 48 Alfonso d'Este, 23 Aliense. See Vassilacchi allegory, 22-23 Allegri, Antonio. See Correggio Alvise dal Friso, 17, 78, 83 Ammanati, Bartolomeo, 10 Angeli, Giuseppe, 134 Angelico, Fra Giovanni called, 8" Angelo del Moro. See Giulio and Marco d'Angelo del Moro Antonio da Ponte, 103, 41 Antonio da Trento, 142 A N T W E R P , Jesuit Church, 52, 79, figs. 34-35 Aretino, Pietro, 9-10, 12, 15, 1 1 7 A R E Z Z O , Casa Vasari, 49 Arpino, Cavaliere d'. See Cesari AUGSBURG, Town Hall, 52, fig. 33 Averlino, Antonio. See Filarete Badoer, Federico, 95 AALEN,

BERGAMO

Municipio, 49" S. Maria Maggiore, 49" BERLIN

collection P. Cassirer, 87 Staatliche Museen, 93, 54, figs. 60-64 Bernardo, Francesco, 108 Berrettini, Pietro. See Pietro da Cortona BIRMINGHAM, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, 106 Oratory of S. Colombano, 92 Bombarda. See Cambi, Giovanni Battista Bonifazio dei Pitati. See Veronese Bordone, Paris, 1 2 Borghini, Raffaele, 109 BOSCOREALE, Villa of Fannio Senestor, 4, fig. 4 Bramantino, 5 B R A T I S L A V A , collection E. Lanfranconi, 1 1 9 BRESCIA, Palazzo del Comune, 48, fig. 27 Bronzino, Agnolo, 100 Brunelleschi, Filippo, 6 BOLOGNA,

Baldassare di Guglielmo (delle Grottesche), 80, 88, 103 Baldovinetti, Alesso, 8" Ballini, Camillo, 46, 44, 45, fig. 41, pi. 130 Bambini, Nicolò, 56, fig. 42 Barbaro, Daniele, 23", 98

237

Index Muséedes Beaux Arts, 1 4 , 1 3 9 , 1 4 3 , 25, 49, fig- 72, pis. 5, 7 Buonarroti. See Michelangelo BUDAPEST,

BUBG

SEEBENSTEIN,

collection

Princes

of

Liechtenstein, 57 Caletti, Giuseppe, 125" Caliari, Benedetto, 64, 77, 137 Caliari, Carletto, 17, pi. 148 Caliari, Paolo. See Veronese Calice, Bartolomeo Bontempelli del, 134 Cambi, Giovanni Battista, 43 CAMBRIDGE, Fitzwilliam Museum, 14 Campagnola, Domenico, 8 Canal, Fabio, 130

Destre, Vincenzo dalle. See Vincenzo dalle Destre DETROIT, Institute of Arts, 30, 47, pi. 80 Dolabella, Tommaso, 45, 43, 68, pi. 124 Donato, Alvise, 32 Dossi, Dosso, 23" DRESDEN, Gemäldegalerie, 14

Dyck, Anthony van, 103, 122, fìg. 71 Éste. See Alfonso, Francesco, and Isabella d'Este Falconetto, Giovanni Maria, 5 FERRARA

CANDIANA, Monastery, 39, 45"

Candid, Peter, 51-52, fig. 33 Caprioli, Domenico, 70 Carafa, family, 63 Carlton, Sir Dudley, 1X7 Carpaccio, Vittore, 46 Carracci, family, 49 Cattaneo, Danese, 10 ceilings, articulation of, 4 1 - 4 6 ; coffering schemes, 6-8; compartment systems, 4, 5, 19-20

Cellini, Benvenuto, 10 Cesari, Giuseppe, 50, fig. 30 Cicogna, Pasquale, 69, 80, 112-113 Ciochetti, Giovanni, 132 Coli, Giovanni, 55 Contarmi, Giovanni, 92, 1 Contarmi, Jacopo, 108 Corner, Giovanni, 15, 50 Corona, Leonardo, 46,47,6,17,42, 67, 72, 80, pis. 1 1 7 , 150 Correggio, Antonio Allegri called, 5, 37 Cort, Cornelis, fig. 27 Cortona, Pietro da. See Pietro da Cortona Costa, Lorenzo, 23" Crivelli, Gian Francesco, n o Daniele da Volterra, 13 Demio, Giovanni. See Fratino 238

Castello, 23" Palazzo dei Diamanti, 49-50 Filarete, Antonio, 6n FLORENCE

Accademia di Belle Arti, 8" collection Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, 124 collection Count Augusto A. Contini Bonacossi, 56, 57, pi. 9 collection D. van Hadeln, 58 Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento, 55 Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, 6, 57", fig. 9 Palazzo Vecchio, 49, 51, fìg. 29 S. Lorenzo, 6, 22 S. Maria del Carmine, 57" S. Spirito, 4, 71", fìg. 1 Uffizi, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, 66, 83, 87, 104, NO, 1 1 6

Uffizi, Galleria, 36", 55", 100 FORLÌ, S. Biagio, Cappella Feo, 5", 21 Francesco I d'Este, 122 Franck, Pauwels. See Paolo dei Franceschi Franco, Battista, 101, 128, 142, 32, 33, pi. 58 Fratino, Giovanni Demio, 14, 33, pi. 55 Gaddi, Taddeo, 8" Gambarato, Girolamo, 43 GENOA, Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti, 55, fig- 39 Gentile da Fabriano, 46

Index Gentileschi, Orazio, 53 Gherardi, Filippo, 55 Ghirlandaio, Ridolfo, 6 n Ghisi, Giovanni Battista, n n Giordano, Luca, 57 Giovanni Maria da Ponte, 65 Giovanni da Udine, 1 1 , 142 Giugno, Francesco, 45° Giuliano da Sangallo, 4, 71", fig. 1 Giulio d'Angelo del Moro, 44 Giulio Romano, 13, 16, 17, 23°, 24, 37, 45, figs. 1 7 - 1 9 , 24 Giuseppe della Porta. See Salviati, Giuseppe Gonzaga, Federigo, 23 GREENWICH, Queen's House, 53 GRENOBLE, Musée des Beaux Arts, 54 Grimani, Domenico, 10, 97 Grimani, Giovanni, 10, 97 Grimani, Girolamo, 71 Grimani, Marino, 10, 97 Grimani, Vettor, 10, 97 Guariento, 8, 46, fig. 12

Lattanzio da Rimini, 70 LeBrun, Charles, 54 LeFevre, Valentin, fig. 14 LENINGRAD, Hermitage, 38, 90, 1 3 4 , 2 3 , pis.

135, 138 LENTIAI, S. Maria Assunta, 48-49, fig. 28 Le Sueur, Eustache, 54 Licinio, Giulio, 33, 44, pi. 59 LILLE, Musée des Beaux Arts, 48 Lippi, Filippino, 4", 7 1 " Lombardo, Pietro, 70 LONDON

British Museum, 103, n o collection R . H. Benson, 49 collection C . R . Rudolf, 36, 106, fig. 89 collection Marquess of Stafford, 125 collection G. Weidenfeld, 50, pi. 6 Lancaster House, 59, fig. 68 National Gallery, 13, 14, 25, fig. pl-5

Whitehall, Banqueting House, 52-53, figs.

Harewood, 28, n o , fig. 88 HARTFORD, Conn., Wadsworth Atheneum, 25, 4 6 , pi. 10 Henry III, visit to Venice of, 102 illusionism, 4-5, 20-21 Ingoli, Matteo, 92 Isabella d'Este, 23

36-37 Longo, Pietro, 42, pi. 120 LORETO, Basilica, Cappella del Tesoro, 5 0 Lotto, Lorenzo, io", 1 1 , 58 MADRID

Alcazar, 126 Museo del Prado, 126, 60, 61 Palacio Nacional, 58, fig. 47 Maffei, Francesco, 55" Maggiotto, Domenico, 99 Mantegna, Andrea, 4-5, 20, 23°, figs. 6-7; school of, fig. 5 Mantovano, Camillo, 93

Jacobello del Fiore, 22 Jacopino del Conte, 13 Jones, Inigo, 52-53 Kager, Matthias, 52, fig. 33 LACY,

Dorset,

collection

H.

13,

Osterley Park, 53° Victoria and Albert Museum, 1 1 2 , 1 1 3 , fig. 87

HAARLEM, Teylers Stichting, 74, 120 HAREWOOD PARK, Yorks., collection Earl of

KINGSTON

no,

J.

MANTUA

Ralph Bankes, 52

Castello, Camera degli Sposi, 4, 20, figs. 6, 7 Duomo, 5 n Palazzo del Te, Sala di Psiche, 16 Palazzo Ducale, Sala di Troia, 13, 17, 24, figs. 1 7 - 1 9

LA GRANJA, Casde, 1 2 6

landscape painting, flemish-venetian, 29 Lanfranco, Giovanni, 50 239

Index S. Francesco, 21, fxg. 5 Marcello, Jacopo, 108 Marco d'Angelo del Moro, 43", 136 Mazza, Damiano, 30, figs. 69-70 Mazzola. See Parmigianino Melozzo da Forlì, 4-5, 21 Menzocchi, Francesco, 93 Mezzani, Antonio, 103" Michelangelo, 13, 14, 17, 21, 29, fig. 22 Michieli, Andrea. See Vicentino

Sheldonian Theatre, 53 Padavino, Girolamo, 42, pi. 116 PADUA

collection Count N. Giustiniani-Cavalli, " 9 , 49

Museo Civico, 8, fig. 12 Reggia dei Carraresi, 8, fig. 12 S. Agata, 49" S. Maria del Parto, 8 Palladio, Andrea, 105, 137 Palma il Giovane, 28, 36-39, 45°, 47, 48, 55,

MILAN

collection T. Rasini, 36, 110, figs. 85, 90 Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, 66" Pinacoteca di Brera, 31 Milesio, Giovanni Battista, 92 MODENA, Galleria Estense, 49°, 53 Molin, Domenico, 95 Montemezzano, Francesco, 45, 46, 17, 42, 44, 48, 68, pls. 115, 149

9 2 , 1 3 7 , 3, 6 , 1 0 , 2 2 , 2 3 , 2 4 , 4 2 , 6 2 , 7 0 , 7 2 ,

73,74,77,78,81,87,91, figs. 26,73,74,86, 89-90, pls. 103, 106, 1 1 3 , 114, I34-I3S,

137-138, 139, 140, 142-147 Paolo dei Franceschi, 29, 66, fig. 79 PARIS

collection Davidovitch, 82", fig. 73 Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, 78, fig. 81 Musée National du Louvre, 13, 54, 35, 36, figs. 35, 38, pls. 21, 36

MUNICH

Residenz, 51 Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, 38, 132, pi. 140

PARMA

Duomo, 5, 37 S. Giovanni Evangelista, 37 Parmigianino, Giriamo Francesco Maria Mazzola called, 13 Pedrali, Giacomo, 130 Pennacchi, Girolamo, 70 Pennacchi, Pier Maria, 67, 73, 12, pls. 3-4 Peranda, Sante, 55, 73 Perini, M., 103° Perugino, Pietro, 23° Piazzetta, Giovanni Battista, 57 Picino, Jacopo, fig. 20 Pierino da Vinci, fig. 25 Pietro da Cortona, 50, 58", fig. 32 Pinturicchio, Bernardino, 4, 8, 71", fig. 3 Pippi. See Giulio Romano Pisanello, Antonio Pisano called, 46 Pitati, Bonifazio dei. See Veronese Ponchino, Giovanni Battista, 13, 14°, 24, 47®, 35, 37, pls. 27, 42

MURANO

Palazzo Trevisan, 122 S. Maria degli Angeli, 7, 73,8,9, figs. 49-50, pls. 1-2 S. Pietro Martire, 9, fig. 50 NAPLES, S. Pietro a Maiella, 51, fig. 31 Negretti. See Palma il Giovane NEW YORK

collection W. P. Chrysler, Jr., 118 collection S. H. Kress Foundation, 118 collection R . Lehmann, 118 collection J. Scholz, n o collection unidentified (private), 14, 106, fig- 23 Metropolitan Museum of Art, 82, 83, 62, figs. 4, 86 Nicholas I, Czar of Russia, 119 OXFORD

Ashmolean Museum, no, fig. 84

240

Index S. Maria del Popolo, 5 S. Maria in Vallicella, 50, 58" S. Prassede, 50, fig. 30 Sistine Chapel, 5, 17, 21 Villa Belvedere, 5° Villa Borghese, 50 Villa Farnesina, 21 Rondinella Nicolò, 7, 8, 9, figs. 49-50, pis. 1—2

Ponte. See Antonio da Ponte and Bassano PONTECASALE, Villa Garzoni, 20 Pordenone, Giovanni Antonio, 11, 12, 14-15, 16, 22, 31, 37, 25, 88, fig. 20, pis. 5, 7 PORDENONE, Civica Pinacoteca, 14 Porta, Giuseppe della. See Salviati, Giuseppe Poussin, Nicolas, 54, fig. 38 POZNAN, University, 128

Pozzoserrato, Lodovico, 29, 51, figs. 75-78 Preti, Mattia, 51, fig. 31

Rosa, Cristoforo and Stefano, 45, 34, pls. 7-8 ROTTERDAM, Museum Boymans-van Beunig e n , 90, 106, n o , I I I ° , fig. 83

Querena, Luigi, 132, pi. 141

Rubens, Peter Paul, 52-53, 79, figs. 34-37 Rubini, Lorenzo, 43" Rusconi, Giovanni Antonio, 103, 105

Raffaellino del Garbo, 4°, 71" Rangone, Tommaso, 66 Raphael, 5, 14, 21, fig. 2 Ricci, Sebastiano, 56, 57, figs. 44, 45 Ricciarelli, Daniele. See Daniele da Volterra Ridolfi, Bartolomeo and Ottaviano, 43 Ridolfi, Carlo, 35, 36°, 37 Robusti. See Tintoretto Rogier van der Weyden, 98 Romano, Giulio. See Giulio Romano

Sacchi, Andrea, 50 SAINT LOUIS, MO., C i t y A r t Museum, 126

Salviati, Francesco, 10-n, 13, 93 Salviati, Giuseppe, 10, 86, 21, 33, 90, figs. 6567, pls. 56-57 Sandrini, Tommaso, 4511 Sangallo, Giuliano da. See Giuliano da Sangallo Sanmicheli, Michele, 15, 19, 120 Sansovino, Jacopo Tatti called, 9-10, n , 16,

ROME

Chiesa Nuova. See S. Maria in Vallicella collection L. A. di Capua, 50, pi. 6 collection Sacchetti, 127 Colosseum, 21 Domus Aurea, 20, 2in

19-20, 41, 93-94, 95, fig- 15 SARASOTA, Fla., Ringling Museum of Art, 49, pls. 18-19 Scamozzi, Vincenzo, 69 Scarpagnino. See Abbondi, Antonio Schiavone, Andrea, 17, 33, 75, 92, pls. 66-67;

Forum Romanum, Arch of Titus, 20-21, fig. 8 Gesù, 57 Museo Vaticano, fig. 25 Palazzo Barberini, 50, fig. 32 Palazzo Domenico della Rovere, 8 Palazzo Vaticano : Appartamento Borgia, 4, 71", fig. 3 ; Logge di Raffaello, 34; Stanza della Segnatura, 5, fig. 2 Pinacoteca Capitolina, 63, figs. 57, 59 Pinacoteca Vaticana, 63, fig. 58 SS. Domenico e Sisto, 57 S. Ignazio, 57

attributed to, 49, 53; school of, 55 Serafino, Fra Antonio, 65 Serlio, Sebastiano, 10, 12, 19, 140, fig. 21 Silvio, Giampietro, 47 Sodoma, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi called, 5, fig. 2 Soranzo, Jacopo, 108, 140 Sorte, Cristoforo, 27, 43, 115, 42, 43, fig. 87, pls. 102, I2I-I22 Streeter, Robert, 53-54 Strozzi, Bernardo, 55, 93, 94, fig. 39 Suardi, Bartolomeo. See Bramantino SUSEGANA, collection Counts of Collalto, 124

S. Maria sopra Minerva, 4", 71° 241

Index Cà d'Anna, 12 Carmini, Church of the. See S. Maria del Carmelo Casa Aretino, 25, 46, pi. 10 Casa Barbo (S. Pantaleon), 30, 47, pi. 80 Casa Bozza (S. Marina), 92 Civico Museo Correr, 32 Crociferi, Church of the. See S. Maria Assunta economic decline of, 40 Fabbriche di Terra Nuova. See Granari Pubblici Fabbriche Vecchie di Rialto, Magistrato delle Beccherie, 31 Fondaco dei Tedeschi, 47, 126, 32 Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 79 Gesuati, Church of the. See S. Maria del Rosario, S. Maria della Visitazione Gesuiti, Church of the. See S. Maria Assunta Granari Pubblici, Magistrato delle Legne,

Tatti, Jacopo. See Sansovino Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista, 57-58, fig. 47 Tintoretto, Domenico, 47, II4 N , 61, 84, 85, 86 Tintoretto, Jacopo, 14, 24-25, 28, 29-36, 47, 92, 95, 103, 28, 29, 38, 40, 42, 43, 46, 52,

53, 56, 64, 72, 76, 82, 85, 88, figs. 23, 82, 83, pis. 9, i o , 8 1 - 8 3 , 84-88, 89-91, 9 2 -

; attributed to, 126, 127; circle of, 128; manner of, 60 Titian, 9, 1 7 - 1 8 , 24, 47, 48, 86, 92, 94, 20, 26, 34, figs- 14, 27, 52-53, pis. 1 6 - 1 7 , 78-79 Toeput, Lodewyk. See Pozzoserrato, Lodovico Torlioni, Bernardo, 76 TKEVUXE, Villa Soranzo, 125 TREVISO, Monte di Pietà, 121" Tribolo, Nicolò, 10 100,104,107-110,121-123

Udine, Giovanni da. See Giovanni da Udine UDINE, Palazzo Arcivescovile, 57

102, 88

Varottari, Alessandro, 55, 84, 94, figs. 40-41 Varottari, Dario, 49", 68 Vasari, Giorgio, 10, 11, 1 5 - 1 7 , 49, 5 1 , 77, 50, fig. 29, pis. 6, 8 Vassillacchi, Antonio, 47,49", 1 3 2 , 1 3 8 , 31, 42, 44, 68, 69, 84, 85, fig. 85, pls. 1 1 8 , 1 1 9 Vecellio, Cesare, 48-49, fig. 28 Vecellio, Marco, 5, 13, 43, 44, fig. 80, pi. 125 Vecellio, Tiziano. See Titian Velazquez, Diego, 1 2 5 - 1 2 6 Vendramin, Cardinal Francesco, 141 Veneziano, Bonifazio. See Veronese, Bonifazio

Incurabili, Church of the, 48, 55, figs. 39-40 Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. See Palazzo Loredan Libreria di S. Marco: Reading Room, 11, 19, 26, 41, 46, 47, 103, 33, pls. 54-67; Vestibule, 45, 34, pls. 78-79 Magistrato delle Beccherie. See Fabbriche Vecchie di Rialto Magistrato delle Biade. See Palazzo Ducale Magistrato delle Legne. See Granari Pubblici Murano. See MURANO Oratorio dei Crociferi, 22 Oratorio degli Orfani. See S. Maria della Visitazione Palazzo Barbarigo (unidentified), 48 Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza, 49, pls.

VENICE

Accademia di Belle Arti, 6 - 7 , 1 2 , 22, 29, 3 1 , 55, 72, 85, 104, 137, 2,16, 26, 27, 31, figs. 10, 1 1 , 16, 40, 5 1 , pls. 1 7 , 1 3 2 - 1 3 3

Anconetta, Church of the, 67 Casarie di S. Marco. See Granari Pubblici collection I. Brass, 6IN, 127 collection Counts Donà delle Rose, 124 collection Princes Giovanelli, 50, pi. 6 collection L. Resimini, 119 collection L. Rocca, 64

18-19

Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, 22" Palazzo Corner della Cà Grande, 11 Palazzo Corner-Spinelli, 15, 19, 50, pls. 6, 8

Palazzo Dolfin (S. Salvatore), 11 242

Index S. Francesco di Paola, 44, I, pi. 151 S. Francesco della Vigna, 70 S. Giacomo alla Giudecca, 45, 46, 2 S. Giacomo dall'Orio, 3,4, 71, fig. 74 S. Giorgio Maggiore, 55, S7n S. Giovanni Decollato, 2 S. Giovanni Elimosinario, 12 SS. Giovanni e Paolo, 9, fig. 14; Cappella del Rosario, 37-38, 44, 47, 71-74. 72. pls. 140-141; Cappella di S. Domenico, 57; Sacristy, 5, fig. 80 S. Girolamo dei Gesuati, alle Zattere. See S.

(cont'd) Palazzo Ducale, 96; Andito della Sala dello Scrutìnio, 46, 45, fig. 4 1 ; Atrio, see Salotto Quadrato; Magistrato delle Biade, 27, 39, pi. 72; Magistrato del Proprio, 22; Porta della Carta, 22; Retrostanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Dieci, 31, 8on, 40, pls. 89-91; Sala del Anticollegio, 43", 102"; Sala della Bussola, 24, 36, pls. 32-37; Sala del Collegio, 27, 34, 42, 112, 41, pls. 73-77; Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci, 19, 23,24, 41,47, 35, pls. 20-31 ; Sala degli Inquisitori di Stato, see Retrostanza dei Tre Capi; Sala della Libreria, see Sala dello Scrutinio; Sala del Maggior Consiglio, 22, 23, 27-29, 34-35. 36, 43, 46-47, 99, 112, 42, figs. 84, 85, 88, 89-90, pls. 102-120; Sala dei Pregadi, see Sala dello Scrutinio and Sala del Senato; Sala delle Quattro Porte, 43", 50"; Sala dello Scrutinio, 15,19,22,43-44,47,109, 44, 89, fig. 21, pls. 129-131; Sala del Senato, 35, 36, 37,43-44.47.43, pls. 1 2 1 125, 127; Salotto Quadrato, 30, 41, 38, pls. 81-83; Scala d'Oro, 1 0 1 ; Stanza dei Tre Capi del Consiglio dei Dieci, 23, 24, 47. 37. pls- 38-42 Palazzo Grimani (unidentifìed), 121 Palazzo Grimani (S. Maria Formosa), 10,11, 93

VENICE

Maria della Visitazione Giuliano, 37, 44, 47, 6, pls. 136-137 Giustina, 73 Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, 58" Marciliano, 56, fig. 45 Marco, 11, fig. 15 Maria Assunta dei Gesuiti, 10, 74, pi. 139 Maria del Carmelo, 14, 75 Maria della Celestia, 11 Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, 6° Maria dei Miracoli, 7, 67, 7 3 , 1 2 , 1 3 , pls. 3-4 S. Maria dell'Orto, 29, 30°, 45, 76 S. Maria del Rosario, 58 S. Maria della Salute: Sagrestia Maggiore, 1, 7, 9, 20, figs. 49, 52-53, pls. 1 2 - 1 5 ; Sagrestia Minore, i l ; Sanctuary, 18, 21, figs. 65-67 S. Maria dell'Umiltà, 26, 29, 42,14, pls. 68-

S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S.

Palazzo Loredan (S. Stefano), 51, figs. 75-78 Palazzo Patriarcale, 91 Palazzo Pesaro (S. Stae), 56, 92, fig. 42 Palazzo Pisani (S. Paterniano), 53 Palazzo Pisani (S. Stefano), 53, 57, figs. 6064 Palazzo Reale, ex, 103 Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia, 37, 82, pi. 134 Procuratie Nuove, 103 SS. Apostoli, 47°, 68, 69 S. Bartolomeo. See S. Francesco di Paola S. Eufemia, 58" S. Eustachio. See S. Stae

7i S. Maria della Visitazione, 67, 15, fig. 48 S. Maria Maddalena delle Convertite, 38, 39. 77. pi- 138 S. Michele in Isola, 6" S. Nicoletto. See S. Nicolò ai Frari S. Nicolò ai Frari, 16, pls. 132-133 S. Nicolò della Lattuga. See S. Nicolò ai Frari S. Nicolò dei Mendicoli, 45, 46, 47,17, pls. 148-150 S. Paterniano, 78 S. Rocco, 12, 31, 37

243

Index (cont'd) S. Sebastiano, 3, 21, 24", 26, 41,19, figs. 5456, pis. 50-53; Sacristy, 19, 41, 18, pis.

VENICE

43-45 S. Sofia, 79 S. Spirito in Isola, 13,16-18, 20, figs. 52-53, 81, pis. 12-15; Refectory, 21, figs. 65-67 S. Stae, 80, 81 S. Stefano, 12 S. Teresa, 133 S. Zanipolo. See SS. Giovanni e Paolo Scalzi, Church of the, 58 Scuola della Carità, 6, 7®, 47, figs. 10, 11 Scuola della Madonna di Pietà, 83 Scuola della Passione, 7, 87 Scuola di S. Fantin: Albergo, 36-37, 44, 66", 23, fig- 73. pis. 134-135; Albergo Nuovo, 56, fig. 43; Sala Terrena, 38, 45. 24, 82, fig. 86, pls. 142-147 Scuola di S. Francesco, 14, 16, 25, pls. 5, 7 Scuola di S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni, 25A Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista: Albergo, 26, pls. 16-17; Sala, 47 Scuola della Giustizia. See Scuola di S. Fantin Scuola di S. Girolamo, 27, fig. 51 Scuola di S. Marco, 29, 31 Scuola di S. Maria e di S. Girolamo. See Scuola di S. Fantin Scuola dei Mercanti, 47, 84, 85, 86 Scuola di S. Rocco, 109; Albergo, 30-31, 41, 8on, 28, pls. 84-88; Sala Superiore, 32-34, 42-43. 8on, 29, fig. 83, pls. 92-100; Sala Terrena, 109 Scuola del SS. Sacramento, 65 Scuola dei Sarti, 30, figs. 69-70 Seminario Patriarcale, Library, 56, 57, figs.

Veronese, Paolo, 3, 23", 24, 26-29, 34. 46, 47, 86, 92, 137, 4. 14, 16, 18, 19. 33. 35. 36, 37. 39. 41, 42, 54. 57. 63, 65, 71, 88, figs. 57-59, 60-64, 84. 88, pls. 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32-37. 38,40-41, 43-45, 50-53, 54-56, 62, 63, 64, 68-71, 72, 73-77, 105, i n , 132-133; after, 139, figs. 71, 72; assistant of, figs. 54-56; attributed to, 125, 48; studio of, 45, 2 VERSAILLES, Château, 54 Vicentino, Andrea, 84, 7, 11, 43, 44, pis. 127, 129 Vicentino, Nicolò, 142 VICENZA

Oratorio del Gonfalone, 38, 39, 48, fig. 26 Palazzo Porto Barbarano, 43°, 48 Palazzo Thiene, 43" Vico, Enea, 14° VIENNA

Akademie

der

Bildenden

Künste,

52,

fig- 34 Albertina, 82 collection Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, 128 collection Török, 82 Kunsthistorisches Museum, 65 Vignola, Girolamo, 66 Vincenzo dalle Destre, 70 Vittoria, Alessandro, 43", 132 Vivarini, Alvise, 27, fig. 51 WARSAW, National Museum, 66, fig. 79 Weyden, Rogier van der. See Rogier WILANÓW, collection S. P. Potochi, 128 Wit, Peter de. See Candid Zanchi, Antonio, 56, figs. 43, 46 Zelotti, Giovanni Battista, 23", 24, 47", 99, 33, 35, 37, 59, fig- 68, pis. 25, 26, 28, 30, 3839, 60, 61, 68; attributed to, 48 Zuccari, Federigo, 86 Zugno, Francesco, 58"

44,46 Zecca, 11 VERONA

collection Counts Lecchi, 122, 93 SS. Nazaro e Celso, 5 Veronese, Bonifazio, 12,22", fig. 16; studio of, 49, pls. 18-19

ZÜRICH

collection H. Trainé, 120, pl. 8 collection W . Wydler-Orendi, 87

244