few little things done by him in miniature, from which, aithough they may now seem rather crude than otherwise, we may yet perceive how greatly the art of design was improved by his labours.

ARNOLFO DI LAPO, ARCHITECT, OF FLORENCE.
[1232: 1310.]

HAVING spoken, in my Preface to these Lives, of certain edifices, old, but not antique,* of which I did not name the architects, because they were not known to me, I will now enumerate, in this introduction to the life of Arnolfo, some few other buildings, erected in his time or shortly before it, of which the authors are also unknown, and will afterwards speak of such as were built during his lifetime, and the architects of which are either known or can be ascertained from the mode of the building, and from different notices, writings, and inscriptions, left by them in the works they constructed. Nor will such discourse be out of place; for although these buildings are neither beautiful nor in a good style, but belonged to the biographer of Arezzo (Vasari). Baldinucci further says, in his "Address to the Reader," and in his letters to the Marquis Vincenzo Capponi, that he had himself advised Cardinal Leopoldo to arrange the large mass of drawings collected, in chronological order, and had even been entrusted with this labour by the Cardinal, and afterwards by Cosmo III; but Giovanni Cinelli, in his bitter "Critica," not only refuses the merit of proposing this arrangement to Baldinucci, but denies that he superintended it, and gives all the credit of that work to the Count Carlo Cesare Malvasia, of Bologna, who was assisted by the councils of Volterrano, of Lippi, and of the Cardinal himself. The greater part of the collection was sent to the Gallery of the Uffizj, in the year 1700, where the vast number of drawings would now make it difficult to distinguish those collected by Vasari. It is true, that this series, lately arranged anew, commences with "certain little things done in miniature" on parchment, which are attributed to Cimabue, and may be those here alluded to by Vasari. Many other drawings belonging to Vasari became the property of Crozat, who published a part of them.-Ed. Flor.

A distinction, which Vasari has made towards the end of his "Introduction to the Lives," where he explains what he means by "old”, and what by "antique," see ante, page 31.

merely vast and rich, they are nevertheless worthy of some consideration.

*

There existed, then, at the time of Lapo, and of Arnolfo, his son, many buildings of great importance, both in Italy and other countries, of which I have not been able to discover the architects. Among these are the abbey of Monreale, in Sicily; the Piscopio (or Episcopate of the Greek rite), in Naples ;† the Certosa of Pavia; ‡ the Duomo of Milan; § the churches San Pietro || and San Petronio,¶ in Bologna; with many others, erected at incredible expense, throughout Italy. All which I have well examined, with many works in sculpture of the same times, more particularly in Ravenna, without being able to find any memorial whatever of the masters, -nay, often uncertain as to the age in which they were constructed, -so that I cannot but marvel at the simplicity and indifference to glory exhibited by the men of that period. But to return to our subject. After the buildings just enumerated, others were erected in a nobler spirit, and the architects of which endeavoured at least to produce something better, if they did not attain their end. The first of these masters was Buono,** whose family, name, and country, are alike unknown, he having written his baptismal name only in the few memorials which he has left of his works. This artist was a sculptor as well as architect; he built many palaces and churches, in Ravenna, about the year 1152; and these, with certain works of sculpture, also executed by him, having brought him into notice, he was invited to Naples,

*Founded in 1177 by William II, called "the Good," one of the first buildings in Europe in which the pointed arch was used. See D'Agincourt, pl. 36, also Hittorff, Architecture Moderne de la Sicile, and Gally Knight's Saracenic and Norman Remains in Sicily.

†The present cathedral of Naples, San Jannario, was commenced in 1280 by Charles I of Anjou.-Schorn.

The Certosa or Charter-house of Pavia was built in the fourteenth century, by Giacopo Campione, at the command of Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, first duke of Milan.-Schorn.

§ This cathedral, also founded by Giovanni Galeazzo, was completed by Napoleon.

San Pietro was erected in the tenth century and restored in the eighteenth, under Benedict XIV.

San Petronio was commenced in the year 1390, the architect was Master Harduin.-Schorn.

**For Buono and other artists here mentioned, see Cicognara, Storia della Scultura.

where he founded the Castel dell' Uovo and Castel Capoano, which were afterwards completed by others, as will be related hereafter. While Domenico Morosini was Doge of Venice, Buono founded the Campanile of San Marco, in that city, with great judgment and foresight, having so ably constructed the foundations, and fixed the piles, that this tower has never sunk, even by a hair's breadth, as many other buildings, constructed in Venice before his time, were, and still are, found to do. And it is from him, perhaps, that the Venetians received the art of founding the very rich and beautiful edifices which they are now daily causing to be magnificently erected in that most noble city. It is true that this tower has nothing particularly meritorious in itself, whether in the manner of construction or the decorations. There is nothing in it, in short, that deserves high praise, its solidity excepted; it was finished under the pontiffs Anastasius IV and Adrian IV, in the year 1154. Buono was also the architect of the church of Sant' Andrea of Pistoia; the marble architrave over the door was sculptured by his hand; it comprises many figures in the Gothic manner, and bears his name, with the date of the work, namely 1166. Being then invited to Florence, Buono gave the designs for enlarging the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which was then without the city and held in high veneration, as having been consecrated many years previously by Pope Pelagius. With respect to size and style, this is a very tolerable specimen of a church of that day.

Buono was next invited to Arezzo by the people of that city, and constructed the ancient palace of its governors, the lords of Arezzo, a building in the Gothic manner, with a bell-tower by the side of it.* The whole edifice, which was sufficiently handsome of its kind, was demolished in the year 1533, because it was too near to the fortifications of the city. The art now began to make visible progress; being aided by the efforts of a certain Guglielmo,† whom I believe to have

* This palace, "Il Palazzo de' Signori," of which there yet remains a small fragment between the Duomo and the Citadel, was not founded until the year 1232, and could not therefore have been built by Buono, whom Vasari places a full century earlier.-Ed. Leghorn.

+ Della Valle considers this Guglielmo to be a Pisan, principally because a Pisan artist of that rame took part in the construction of the

been a German, and many buildings were erected at great cost and in a somewhat better style. In the year 1174, this William, assisted by the sculptor Bonanno, is said to have founded the campanile of the Duomo in Pisa, where the following inscription may still be seen :

A.D. MCLXXIV CAMPANILE HOC FVIT FVNDATUM MENSE AUGUSTI.

But these two architects, having little experience of the requisites to a good foundation on the soil of Pisa, did not sufficiently secure their piles, so that the tower sunk before it had attained half its height, and inclined over the weaker side, leaving six braccia and a half out of the direct line, according to the declension of the foundation. This declination is not much observed below, but is very obvious in the upper part, and has caused many to marvel that the campanile has not fallen, or at least exhibited rents. But this tower has the form of an empty well, being circular both without and within; the stones are so placed that its fall is well nigh impossible, and it is, besides, supported by an outwork of masonry, three braccia high, which has been obviously added to the foundations, since the sinking of the tower, for its more effectual support. * I am persuaded that if the form of this campanile had been square, it would not now be standing, since the corner-stones would have pressed the sides so forcibly outwards, as is frequently seen to happen, that it must have fallen. And if the Garisenda tower of Bologna, which is square, declines from the perpendicular and yet stands, that happens because it is much lighter, the inclination being much less, and not being loaded with so heavy a mass as that of the Pisan tower. This campanile of Pisa is not admired for the beauty of its design or construction, but solely on account of its eccentricity of form, and because no one who looks at it can fail to marvel that it should keep its place. In the year

cathedral of Orvieto, but in Dempster he is called Wilhelm of Innspruck. See Cicognara, ii, 117.-Schorn.

*This out work, which Vasari states to have been added, after the sinking of the tower, for its support, was raised about the year 1537, as Morrona discovered from the books of the work. By excavations made in the year 1838, it was proved that the tower stands without aid from this addition, and that the extent of its declination, is seven braccia and two thirds, nearly fourteen feet. English.-Ed. Flor. 1846.

t The centre of gravity falls of course within the base, in both cases.

1180, and while the campanile was in course of construction, the same Bonanno executed the principal door of the cathedral of Pisa; it is of bronze, and bears the following inscription :-"Ego Bonannus Pis. mea arte hanc portam uno anno perfeci tempore Benedicti operarii."*

The art now made continual progress, as may be seen at San Giovanni in Laterano, in Rome, the walls of which were formed from the spoils of ancient buildings, during the pontificates of Lucius III and Urban III (when this latter pontiff crowned the Emperor Frederick). Many small chapels of this basilica have considerable merit of design, and are well deserving of notice. Among other circumstances of this building, it may be remarked that its vaults were formed of small tubes,† with compartments of stucco, to the end that the walls might not be too heavily burthened,-a very judicious contrivance of those times; the cornices and other parts of the church also proving that artists then contributed effectually in their efforts towards the amelioration of their art.

Innocent III caused two palaces to be erected, about this time, on the Vatican hill, and from what can be seen of them, they appear to have been of good style; but as these buildings were destroyed by other pontiffs, and particularly by Nicholas V, who demolished and rebuilt the greater part of them, I will say no more respecting them than that a portion of them may still be seen in the great Round Tower,‡ and in the old sacristy of St. Peter's. The above-named pontiff, Innocent III, who reigned nineteen years, and greatly delighted in architecture, caused many buildings to be erected in Rome, particularly the tower of Conti, so called from his own name, he being of that family. The tower was constructed after the designs of Marchionne of Arezzo, a sculptor and architect, by whom the capitular church of Arezzo was completed, together with its campanile, in the year of Pope Innocent's death; the front of this edifice was adorned with

* This door was destroyed by fire in the year 1596.—Martini, Theatrum Basilica Pisana,

† Probably of burnt clay, as are those of the dome of the church of San Vitale, in Ravenna.

This tower is still to be seen behind the Vatican, in the wall of the pontifical gardens.-Ed. Flor.

E