Lives of the Artists

by Giorgio Vasari

  In the houses of Florence there are so many paintings by Fra Angelico that I am often amazed to think that one man alone, even over so many years, could have done so much perfect work. One of his pictures, a small and very lovely Madonna, is in the possession of the Very Reverend don Vincenzo Borghini, prior of the Innocenti; and Bartolommeo Gondi (whose love of the arts is equal to that of any other Florentine gentleman) owns a large and a small picture by Fra Angelico and also a cross. Fra Angelico also painted the pictures in the arch over the doorway of San Domenico; and in the sacristy of Santa Trinita there is a panel picture, showing the Deposition, which he painted with such diligence that it ranks with the best work he ever did. Then in San Francesco, outside the San Miniato gate, there is an Annunciation by his hand; and in Santa Maria Novella, in addition to the works already mentioned, he adorned with little histories the Paschal candle and some reliquaries which are placed on the altar on solemn occasions. In the abbey of Florence, over the door of the cloister, Fra Angelico did a painting of St Benedict enjoining silence. He also did a painting for the Cloth Guild which is now in their office, and in Cortona he painted a little arch over the door of the Dominican church as well as the panel for the high altar. At Orvieto, on a section of the vaulting of the Lady Chapel in the cathedral, he started to paint some prophets which were later finished by Luca Signorelli. For the confraternity of the Temple at Florence he did a panel picture of the dead Christ; and for Santa Maria degli Angeli he painted a picture of the Inferno and Paradise containing a number of small figures which are brilliantly interpreted, for the blessed are shown as beautiful and exultant in the joy of heaven and the damned as ready for the pains of hell, bearing the mark of their sins and unworthiness on their faces, and depicted in various doleful attitudes: the blessed are seen entering the gates of Paradise in a celestial dance, while the damned are being dragged by demons into the everlasting torments of hell. This painting is at the right of the church as one goes towards the high altar, at the place where the priest retires during a sung Mass. For the nuns of St Peter Martyr (who now live in the monastery of San Felice in Piazza which used to belong to the Camaldolesi) he painted a panel picture showing Our Lady, St John the Baptist, St Dominic, St Thomas, and St Peter Martyr, and a number of small figures. And another panel by Fra Angelico can be seen in the gallery of Santa Maria Nuova.

  These works spread Fra Angelico’s fame through all Italy, and he was sent for by Pope Nicholas V, for whom he decorated the private chapel of the Vatican, where the Pope hears Mass, with a Deposition and some very fine scenes from the life of St Lawrence, as well as illuminating some extremely beautiful books.1 In addition, while he was in Rome Fra Angelico painted the altarpiece of the high altar of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and an Annunciation which is now on a wall beside the main chapel. For the same Pope he also decorated the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Vatican (which was subsequently demolished by Paul III in order to put his stairs there). He carried out this task superbly, in his own distinctive style, painting some scenes from the life of Christ in fresco as well as executing the portraits of many distinguished contemporaries. These might also have been lost had not Giovio saved them for his museum. They were of Pope Nicholas V, the Emperor Frederick, who visited Italy at that time, Fra Antoninus, who later became archbishop of Florence, Biondo of Forlì and Ferrante of Aragon. Now the Pope saw that Fra Angelico was a modest and peaceable man of great holiness of life, and so he decided that he would be a suitable candidate for the archbishopric of Florence, which had fallen vacant. But when he heard this, the friar begged his holiness to find someone else; he did not, he said, feel himself able to rule over others, but there was another friar of his order, a learned and God-fearing man who was a friend of the poor and who knew how to govern, on whom the dignity would be conferred far more appropriately. When he was told this the Pope remembered that what Fra Angelico said was true, and he granted his request and made Fra Antoninus of the Friars Preachers the new archbishop of Florence; the latter was justly renowned for his sanctity and learning and was deservedly canonized in our own time by Adrian VI. For his part, Fra Angelico showed great and unusual qualities in declining the Supreme Pontiff’s offer of an office of such eminence and dignity in favour of someone who, as his own clear judgement and sincerity perceived, was far more worthy of it than himself.

  Instead of taking on responsibilities which they cannot worthily fulfil, the religious of our own times should learn from that holy man to give way to those who are fully worthy of them. And without offence to the good ones, would to God that all the religious spent their time as did that truly angelic Father, whose entire life was devoted to the service of God and the benefit of the world and his neighbour! What more can or should a man want than to win the kingdom of heaven through a virtuous life and, by the quality of his work, to secure everlasting fame on earth? The rare and perfect talent which Fra Angelico enjoyed neither can nor should be granted to anyone who does not lead a thoroughly holy life. Artists who devote themselves to work of a religious or holy kind ought themselves to be genuinely holy and religious, seeing that pictures done by those who have little regard for their religion and little faith often fill the mind with unworthy desires and impure longings, with the result that the work is censured for its impurity but praised for its craftsmanship and skill. However, I do not want to be understood as meaning that ugly and clumsy works are therefore devout, and that fine and beautiful works are to be condemned as lascivious, as do some people who when they see beautifully embellished pictures of unusually attractive youths or women immediately denounce them as pornographic. What they do not realize is that they are wrongfully condemning the good judgement of the painter himself, who considers that the beauty of the saints in heaven must be as much superior to human beauty as is heaven itself to the things of this world. Worse than this, they reveal the diseased and corrupt state of their own minds in finding evil and impure intentions in works which (if they were in love with the truth as much as in their blind zeal they would like to be thought) would reveal to them the painter’s longing for heaven and his desire to make his figures acceptable to the creator of all things, from whose most perfect and beautiful nature all perfection and beauty are derived. What would such men do – what can we think of them doing – if they were to find themselves in the presence of beautiful living creatures with lascivious ways, soft words, graceful movements, and ravishing, inviting eyes, seeing that they are stirred so greatly merely by the image and, as it were, the shadow of beauty? All the same, I do not want anyone to think that I would approve of the all but nude figures which are painted in churches, because these show that the painter has not paid sufficient attention to his surroundings. When an artist wishes to display his skill he should do so with full regard for circumstances of time, place, and persons.

  Fra Angelico led a simple and devout life. It was characteristic of his good way of life, for example, that one morning, when Pope Nicholas wished him to dine with him, he excused himself from eating meat without the permission of his prior, the Pope’s authority in this matter not occurring to him. He shunned all worldly intrigues, lived in purity and holiness, and befriended the poor as much as his soul is now, I believe, befriended by heaven. He worked continuously at his painting, and he would choose only holy subjects. He could have become rich, but he was not interested in wealth; indeed, he used to say that true wealth consists in being content with just a little. He could have had authority over many people, but he refused it on the grounds that there was less trouble and error in obeying others. If he had wanted he could have risen to high rank in his Order and in the world, but he spurned this, saying that the only dignity he wanted was to escape hell and to enter paradise. And, indeed, what dignity can compare with the dignity, which every religious or rather every man ought to seek, of finding God and living a virtuous life? Fra Angelico was most gentle and temperate and he lived chastely, withdrawn from the snares of the world. He would often comment that anyone
practising the art of painting needed a quiet and untroubled life and that the man who occupies himself with the things of Christ should live with Christ. What seems to me extraordinary and almost unbelievable is that the friars never once saw him angry; if he needed to admonish his friends he did it smilingly, without fuss, and to anyone who wanted work from him he would say with great charm that they should first secure the consent of the prior and then he himself would not fail them.

  But it is impossible to bestow too much praise on this holy father, who was so humble and modest in all he did and said and whose pictures were painted with such facility and piety. In their bearing and expression, the saints painted by Fra Angelico come nearer to the truth than the figures done by any other artist. He would never retouch or correct his pictures, leaving them always just as they had been painted since that, as he used to say, was how God wanted them. It is also said that Fra Angelico would never take up his brushes without a prayer. Whenever he painted a Crucifixion the tears would stream down his face; and it is no wonder that the faces and attitudes of his figures express the depth and sincerity of his Christian piety.

  Fra Angelico died at the age of sixty-eight in the year 1455. The pupils whom he left were Benozzo of Florence, who always imitated his style, and Zanobi Strozzi, who painted pictures and panels for a great many private houses in Florence, notably including a panel which is now in the gallery of Santa Maria Novella, beside the one by Fra Angelico, and another in San Benedetto (the ruined monastery outside the Pinti gate which used to belong to the Camaldolesi). This painting is now in the monastery of the Angeli, in the chapel of San Michele, before one enters the principal church, on the right-hand wall on the way to the altar. Zanobi Strozzi also painted a panel picture for the chapel of the Nasi in Santa Lucia and another for San Romeo. In the duke’s wardrobe is a single picture by his hand containing the portraits of Giovanni de’ Bicci de’ Medici and Bartolommeo Valori. Also among Fra Angelico’s pupils were Gentile da Fabriano and Domenico di Michelino, who did the altarpiece of St Zenobius in Sant’Apollonia at Florence as well as many other paintings.

  Fra Angelico was buried by the friars in the Minerva at Rome, by the side entrance near the sacristy, in a round marble tomb with his effigy above it. On the marble is carved this epitaph:

  Non mihi sit laudi, quod eram velut alter Apelles,

  Sed quod lucra tuis omnia, Christe, dabam:

  Altera nam terris opera extant, altera coelo.

  Urbs me Joannem flos tulit Etruriae.1

  In Santa Maria del Fiore there are two very large books, with inspired illuminations by Fra Angelico, which are held in great reverence; they are richly ornamented, and brought out only on solemn occasions.

  LIFE OF LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI

  Florentine architect, 1404–72

  ARTISTS who are fond of reading invariably derive the greatest benefit from their studies, especially if they are sculptors or painters or architects. Book learning encourages craftsmen to be inventive in their work; and certainly, whatever their natural gifts, their judgement will be faulty unless it is backed by sound learning and theory. Everyone knows, for example, that when choosing a site for a new building one must take account of what natural science has to say about avoiding places where there are destructive winds, an unhealthy atmosphere, or stench and exhalations from impure and stagnant waters. But everyone knows, too, that when he is at work the artist himself must decide after careful consideration what to reject and what to accept, using his own judgement and not relying on the theories of others, which are rarely of any value when divorced from practice. When theory and practice coincide then nothing could be more fruitful, since artistic skills arc enhanced and perfected by learning and the advice and writings of knowledgeable artists carry more weight and are more efficacious than the words or work of those who (whatever the quality of their results) are merely practical men.

  The truth of these remarks is clearly demonstrated by Leon Battista Alberti. He devoted himself to the study of Latin and the practice of architecture, perspective, and painting, and he left to posterity a number of books which he wrote himself. Now none of our modern craftsmen has known how to write about these subjects, and so even though very many of them have done better work than Alberti, such has been the influence of his writings on the pens and speech of scholarly men that he is commonly believed to be superior to those who were, in fact, superior to him. So we see that as far as fame and reputation are concerned the written word is more enduring and influential than anything else; for, provided they are honest and innocent of lies, books travel freely and are trusted wherever they go.

  It’s not surprising, therefore, that the famous Leon Battista Alberti is better known for what he wrote than for the work of his hands. He was born in Florence, into the noble Alberti family (of which I spoke elsewhere). He spent his time finding out about the world and studying the proportions of antiquities; but above all, following his natural genius, he concentrated on writing rather than on applied work. He was an accomplished mathematician and geometrician and he wrote in Latin a work on architecture, in ten books, which he published in 1481. (It can be read today in a translation, into the Florentine language, by the Reverend Cosimo Bartoli, provost of San Giovanni of Florence.) He left a work on painting in three books which were translated into Tuscan by Ludovico Domenichi. Alberti also composed a treatise on traction and the rules for calculating heights, as well as the books on the vita civile and some erotic works in prose and verse; and he was the first to use Latin prosody for verse written in Italian, as may be seen from one of his letters:

  Questa per estrema miserabile pistola mando

  A te che spregi miseramente noi.1

  Leon Battista happened to arrive in Rome during the pontificate of Nicholas V, who had been turning the city upside down with all his building projects, and through the good offices of his close friend Biondo da Forlì he was befriended by his holiness. Nicholas had previously sought advice on architectural matters from the Florentine sculptor and architect, Bernardo Rossellino (as I shall mention in my life of his brother Antonio); but after he had started to restore the Vatican and to do some work in Santa Maria Maggiore, following the Pope’s wishes, from then on Rossellino always went to Leon Battista for advice. And using one of them to carry out the ideas supplied by the other, the Pope went ahead with many useful and commendable projects. These included the restoration of the ruined aqueduct of the Acqua Vergine fountain, and the construction of the fountain in the Piazza de’ Trevi, with its still surviving marble ornamentation including the arms of Nicholas V and of the Roman people.

  Subsequently, Alberti went to serve Sigismondo Malatesta, ruler of Rimini, for whom he designed the church of San Francesco, notably its marble façade, as well as the arcade of large arches facing the south and containing the sarcophagi for illustrious citizens. Such was the quality of Alberti’s work for San Francesco that it ranks without question as one of the foremost churches in Italy. It has six very lovely chapels, the one dedicated to St James being extremely ornate and containing many relics which originally came from Jerusalem. This chapel also houses the tombs of Sigismondo and his wife which were built very richly in marble in 1450; over one of them is the portrait of Sigismondo, and on another part of the same work appears the likeness of Leon Battista himself. Then in 1457, the year when the German Johann Gutenberg discovered his very useful method for printing books, Alberti similarly discovered a way of tracing natural perspectives and effecting the diminution of figures, as well as a method of reproducing small objects on a larger scale: these were very ingenious and fascinating discoveries, of great value for the purposes of art.

  In Leon Battista’s time, meanwhile, Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai wished to build in marble, at his own expense, the principal façade of Santa Maria Novella; he consulted Alberti, who was a close friend of his, and receiving not only advice but a model as well Rucellai finally determined to have the work done as a memorial for himself. So a start w
as made, and the façade was finished in 1477, to the great satisfaction of the people who were especially delighted with the door; and so it is clear that Alberti took exceptional trouble over this project.

  For Cosimo Rucellai, Alberti designed the palace which was being built in the street called La Vigna and also the loggia which is opposite the palace. In this loggia he turned the arches over the closely spaced columns in the façade and also over the corbels, in order both to have a series of arches on the outside and to follow the same pattern internally. He had to make projections at the inside corners because he had put a space at each corner between the arches. When he came to vault the interior he was unable to use a semi-circular barrel-vault, which would have looked mean and awkward, and so he resolved to throw small arches across from corner to corner. Here he showed a lack of judgement and design, demonstrating very clearly that theoretical knowledge must be accompanied by experience: no one can develop perfect judgement unless his learning is tempered by practical application.

  It is said that Alberti also designed the house and garden belonging to the Rucellai family in the Via della Scala. The building is made with great judgement and is very commodious, containing among other features two loggias, one facing south and the other west, which in this instance dispense with the use of arches. This is the true and correct method as it was employed in the ancient world: it is impossible to rest the four edges of a curving arch on a round column without throwing the corners out, whereas architraves can rest snugly along the capitals of a row of columns. In fact, good building demands that architraves should be used for columns, and if arches are required then pilasters should take the place of columns.