Chapter XIII: Book III: Bolognese School (9)

Not many years ago, however, it seemed to revive, and a new epoch opened upon the public, the praise of which is due to Mauro Tesi, to whom his friends raised a marble monument in S. Petronio, with a bust and the following inscription: "Mauro Tesi elegantiæ veteris in pingendo ornatu et architectura restitutori." He belonged to the state of Modena, and, when young, was put to the school of a very poor painter of arms in Bologna. Thus it was his lot, writes Algarotti, to have had not a single master of architecture among the moderns. By means of a peculiar natural genius, and studying the designs of Mitelli and Colonna, examining at the same time their models throughout the city, he re-conducted the art to a style, solid in architecture, sparing in decoration, as it had formerly been, and in some parts still more philosophical and learned. His patron, the excellent Count Algarotti, assisted in perfecting his taste, and made him his companion on his tours, encouraging him to make very excellent observations on the works of the ancients. Whoever has perused his life and publications, a fine edition of which appeared at Venice, edited by the learned Aglietti, will have perceived that he was as much attached to Tesi as if he had been his own son. Nor did Tesi shew less respect to Algarotti than to a father; and when the latter went to Pisa for his health, his young friend devoted himself so assiduously to him, as to contract the same disease, of which he died two years afterwards, still very young, at Bologna. Here he left various works, the most conspicuous consisting of a gallery belonging to the deceased Marquis Zambeccari, with marbles, camei, and figures, very well executed; a picture displaying grand relief combined with the most finished exactness. In Tuscany also are some remains of his taste, at S. Spirito in Pistoia, and in the hall of the Marquis Gerini at Florence. I saw, too, in possession of the count's heirs at Venice, two pictures, conceived by Algarotti and painted by Mauro. One of these, which he has described (vol. vi. p. 92) represents a temple of Serapis, decorated in the Egyptian manner, with bassi-relievi and pyramids in the distance; fit to adorn the choicest cabinet. It is enriched with figures by Zuccherelli, in the same way as Tiepolo added them to Tesi's other pieces. There are engravings of some of Mauro's works in possession of the same nobles, as well as his whole studio of designs, landscapes, views of architecture, capitals, friezes, figures; a rich and copious assemblage of materials, almost superfluous in so short but bright a career. After Mauro, no greater proofs of esteem in this art were shewn by Algarotti to any one than to Gaspero Pesci, to whom he directed a number of his letters; of him too Algarotti's heirs possess two pictures, consisting of ancient architecture, with slight sketches of figures, scarcely indicated.

But at length we approach a conclusion. The Bolognese academy still continues to flourish in pristine vigour; the aids afforded to the pupils have even been extended; and, in addition to the academical prizes, there are dispensed others, which the noble families Marsili and Aldrovandi established at stated meetings, and which still go by their name. I cannot, however, as in other schools, record very splendid remunerations to the masters. But this forms the more rare and distinguished honour of the Bolognese artists--to labour for distinction, and to confer their preceptorial services in the arts and sciences upon their country, not only without reward, but even to their own loss, a subject fully treated of by Crespi (pp. 4, 5) in his _Felsina_. Notwithstanding these disadvantages they have continued to maintain, during two centuries, the character of masters in the art. From the time the Caracci first spoke, almost every other school listened and was silent. Their disciples followed, divided into a variety of sects; and these continued, for a long period, to hold sway in Italy. The reputation of the figurists being somewhat on the decline, a substitute sprang up in the decorative and perspective painters, who established laws, and produced examples, still eagerly imitated both in Italy and other parts. Neither the Bibieni, the Tesi, nor the others whom I have mentioned towards the close, are so exclusively entitled to historical consideration, but that the Gandolfi[56] family, with several others, which have either recently become extinct, or still flourish, may claim a share. Doubtless these will not be in want of deserved eulogy from other pens, that will successively follow mine.

Footnote 56: Previous to the present edition, Gaetano
Gandolfi breathed his last; Ubaldo, his elder brother,
having already preceded him to the tomb, at the time he was
preparing to decorate the cupola of S. Vitale in Ravenna.
Ubaldo had been pupil to Torelli, to Graziani, and in
particular under Lelli had exercised his talents in drawing
successfully from the naked model, and to such a foundation
added dignity of style. Of this, several works in painting
conducted with extreme care, as well as some in clay and
stucco, at Bologna, and other places in Romagna, are the
proof. But to judge more particularly of his merits, we
ought to examine his academical designs. In his ideas he was
common, and not very natural in his colouring, and generally
considered on this account inferior to his brother Gaetano,
who was esteemed in Italy one of the most able artists of
his day. Bologna, always grateful to its eminent citizens,
expressed at his decease the degree of esteem in which he
was held while living. His obsequies, of which a separate
account was published in folio, equal what we read in
Malvasia respecting those of Agostino Caracci; and the
oration there recited in his praise by Sig. Grilli, deserves
insertion in any of the most select works written on the
art. There too, Gandolfi, very judiciously, is not held up
as a model in painting; a forbearance which he himself
displayed, even refusing to receive pupils, and observing
that he was himself in want of instruction. Yet from the
influence of his great reputation he was frequently
imitated, and, as it happened, with most success in his
worst qualities, more particularly in his tints. In this
respect he had been ill grounded by his elder brother; but
improved himself by studying for the space of a year at the
fountain head of colourists, in Venice, and by copying for a
Venetian dilettante the finest pieces of the Caracci at
Bologna. It is difficult to account for his fine colouring
in some paintings, equal at least to the good artists of his
time, and his inferior colouring in others, as that of the
Death of Socrates, at Monsig. Trenta's, bishop of Foligno.
It is feeble and deficient in truth, owing either to caprice
or to age. In his preparations of paintings he was more
commendable: his first conceptions were sketched on slate
with pencil, and more carefully on paper. He next began to
select; modelled the figures in chalk, and draped them;
afterwards forming the design on a large scale, and by aid
of his experiments, and of the living model, he went on
completing and retouching his work. He has been accused of
borrowing a little too freely from ancient models; but
whoever had seen him, aged as he was, devoting himself in
the public academy to the practice of modelling, will not
unjustly confound him with those plagiarists, so notorious
in our own day. Moreover, he may be pronounced inimitable to
most artists, in those rare gifts, which nature had lavished
upon him: enthusiasm, fertility of invention, sensibility,
and skill in depicting the passions; to which he added a
correct eye, and ability both to design and compose, in the
decoration of friezes for the institute, exotic plants and
other rarities of nature, as well as to engrave with much
elegance, and skill to paint in oil as well as in fresco. A
really impartial biographer must pass his opinion on every
man, and let his verdict result from an examination of his
masterpieces. Such belonging to Gandolfi are his Assumption,
in the ceiling at S. M. della Vita, and the Nuptials of
Cana, at the refectory of S. Salvatore in Bologna; not to
insist on the Martyrdom of S. Pantaleone, at the church of
the Girolimini in Naples, with some other works scattered
through various parts of Italy.