J. M'Creery, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London. After the very copious and excellent remarks upon the objects of the present history contained in the Author's Preface, the Translator feels that it would be useless on his part to add any further explanation. It would not be right, however, to close these volumes without some acknowledgment of the valuable assistance he has received. Amongst others, he is particularly indebted to Dr. Traill, of Liverpool, who after proceeding to some length with

That there were painters in Italy, even during the rude ages, is attested not only by historians, [26] but by several pictures which have escaped the ravages of time; Rome retains several ancient specimens. [27] Passing over her cemeteries, which have handed down to us a number of Christian monuments, part in specimens of painted glass, scattered through our museums, and part in those of parietal histories, or walled mosaic, it will be sufficient to adduce two vast works, unrivalled by any other

J. M'Creery, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London....

I have frequently heard the lovers of art express a doubt whether the Roman School possesses the same inherent right to that distinctive appellation as the schools of Florence, Bologna, and Venice. Those of the latter cities were, indeed, founded by their respective citizens, and supported through a long course of ages; while the Roman School, it may be said, could boast only of Giulio Romano and Sacchi, and a few others, natives of Rome, who taught, and left scholars there. The other artists wh

This School would have required no farther illustration from any other pen, had Signor Antonio Zanetti, in his highly esteemed work upon Venetian Painting, included a more ample consideration of the artists of the state, instead of confining his attention wholly to those, whose productions, ornamenting the churches and other public places, had all been completed in the city of Venice alone. He has, nevertheless, rendered distinguished service to any one ambitious of succeeding him, and of extend

J. M'Creery, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London....

After a consideration of the principles and progress of painting in Lombardy, I came to the conclusion that its history ought to be treated and arranged in a manner altogether different from the rest of the schools. Indeed those of Florence, of Rome, of Venice, and of Bologna, may be almost considered in the light of so many dramas, in which there occurs an interchange of acts and scenes, for such are the epochs of each school; and there is also a change of actors, for such are the masters of ea

Of Mantegna and his Successors. I shall first commence with Mantua, from which there emanated two sister schools, those of Modena and of Parma. Were any one desirous of investigating the most ancient remains that the art of colouring in that state can boast, he might record the celebrated anthem book, still preserved at S. Benedetto at Mantua, a gift of the Countess Matilda to that monastery, which being founded by her long preserved her remains, transferred during the late century into the Vati

The Ancients. The state of Modena, such as it is now reunited under the happy government of the house of Este, will form the subject of the following chapter; and no other portion of my work can be pronounced superior in point of interest to this. Since the feeble attempts of Vedriani, and of other writers, more eager than sagacious, the pictoric history of the entire dominion has been recently illustrated, as I observed at the commencement, by a distinguished historian. I have no further object

The Ancients. I have never perused the history of Bernardino, and the rest of the pictoric family of the Campi, written some time since by Baldinucci, and more recently by Giambatista Zaist, without thinking that I see in the school which these artists established at Cremona, a sketch of that which was subsequently formed by the Caracci in Bologna. In both these cities a single family projected the formation of a new style of painting, which should partake of all the Italian schools, without com

Account of the Ancients until the time of Vinci. If in each of our pictoric schools we have adhered to the plan of tracing back the memorials of more barbarous ages, and thence proceeding to more cultivated periods, Milan more especially as the capital of Lombardy, and the court of the Lombard kings, will afford us an epoch remarkable no less for its lofty character than for the grandeur of its monuments. When Italy passed from the dominion of the Goths to that of the Longobards, the arts, which

J. M'Creery, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London. CONTENTS of THE FIFTH VOLUME....

During the progress of the present work, it has been observed that the fame of the art, in common with that of letters and of arms, has been transferred from place to place; and that wherever it fixed its seat, its influence tended to the perfection of some branch of painting, which by preceding artists had been less studied, or less understood. Towards the close of the sixteenth century, indeed, there seemed not to be left in nature, any kind of beauty, in its outward forms or aspect, that had

Ferrara, once the capital of a small principality under the dukes of Este, but, since the year 1597, reduced into a legation, dependant upon the see of Rome, lays claim to a series of excellent artists, greatly superior to its power and population. This, however, will appear less extraordinary, if we call to mind the number of its illustrious poets, commencing even before the time of Boiardo and Ariosto, and continued down to our own days; a sure indication of national genius, equally fervid, el

Last among the ancient schools of Italy is to be enumerated the Genoese, in regard to the period in which it flourished, not to its merit, which I consider as being equal to that of many others. In Liguria the first revival of painting appeared tardy; not so its progress, which was rapid and distinguished. In Genoa and Savona, as well as in other cities situated on the sea-shore, there remain some ancient paintings by unknown hands, one of which, over the gate of Savona, is distinguished by the

Piedmont, like the other states of Italy, cannot boast of a series of ancient masters; but it does not on that account forfeit its claim to a place in the history of painting. That enchanting art, the daughter of peace and contemplation, shuns not only the sound but the very rumour of war. Piedmont, from her natural position, is a warlike country; and if she enjoys the merit of having afforded to the other parts of Italy the protection necessary for the cultivation of the fine arts, she is at th

LONDON: PRINTED FOR W. SIMPKIN AND R. MARSHALL, STATIONERS'-HALL COURT, LUDGATE STREET. 1828. J. M'Creery, Tooks Court, Chancery-lane, London. * * * With regard to the Abbreviations of words adopted in the above Indexes, that of b. is applied to dates of birth, and that of d. to the deaths of artists. The rest will be perfectly intelligible to the English reader. ERRATUM. Page 96, line 17, in some copies, for 1666 read 1766. [1] Artists referred to in this work, noting the periods of their Birth