Page:Biographical catalogue of the principal Italian painters.djvu/234

 ZAMPIEBJ. 203 reputation of one of the principid masters in Rome. Althoagh he never wholly east aside the conventionalities of execution of his school, Domeni- chino surpassed the painters of his time in the simplicity of conception, which is one of the great characteristics of the original school of Baphael. This natural simplicity, and a fine colouring, added to the ordinary technical excel > lences of his school in a high degree, constitute the chief merits of his works. Neither originality nor greatness form any part of the elements of the pro- ductions of the Carracceschi; and Do- menichino has frequently adopted figures and compositions from other masters, which was a great injury to him in his time, and was, through his rivals, the chief cause of his want of success at Borne, and of his removal to Naples. Even in his celebrated Com- munion of St. Jerome in the church of Bethlehem, now in the Vatican, Do- menichino has taken the treatment of the subject adopted by Agostino Gar- racd, in his picture in the Bolognese Gallery : the imitation is in the general eomposition only; the details are varied, and several of the heads have an interesting individuality of expres- sion; the colouring is very superior. The Flagellation of St. Andrew, how- ever, is great in its simplicity, and the style of form is admirable, and worthy of the best time of Annibal Carracci. The St Jerome, considered by Andrea Sacchi and Poussin inferior only to Raphael's Transfiguration, of all the altar-pieces in Bome, was painted by Domenichino for 50 scudi, or about ten ffuineas. In the Martyrdom of St. Se- bastian in Sta. Maria degli Angeli at Bome, and executed in mosaic in St. Peter's, another of Domenichino's mas- ter-pieces, he is idso greater in the treatment of the accessories, and indi- vidual parts, than in the conception and arrangement of the whole : in in- dividual expression he is often admi- rable. The Martyrdom of St. Agnes, at Bologna, another of his masterr pieces, is defective as a composition. The groups and subordinate persons constantly engross the interest, they are full of dramatic life and charac- teristic expression, and frequently ex« hibit much grace and beauty, both in form and attitude. The two frescoes from the life of St Cecilia, in the church of San Luigi, at Bome, are also examples of this peculiarity of Domenichino's works. In the repre- sentation of the four Evangelists, in Sant' Andrea della Yalle, Domenichino has succeeded in a higher class of art ; these are noble compositions : the group of the St John is especially im- posing. His scenes from the Life of the Virgin, in the Duomo, at Fano, partly destroyed by fire, are also among his finest productions: others are at Grotta Ferrata, near Bome. One of his most celebrated easel pictures is Diana and her Nymphs, in the Bor- ghese Gallexy. He painted excellent landscapes; they are remarkable for their cheerfulness and warmth of colour. Many compositions of this kind are in the Villa Ludovisi, in the Dona Gallery at Bome, in the Louvre, and in the British National Gallery, Domenichino executed some of his most important works at Naples, from the life of St Januarius, in the chapel of the Tesoro, in' the Duomo : he did not live to complete them. He is said to have been poisoned or worried to death by the persecutions of the no- torious cabal of Naples — Garracciolo, Corenzio, and Bibera, who were un- compromising enemies of all painters of reputation who visited Naples for the purposes of their art. Domeni- chino was also an architect; he was created papal architect by Gregory V*,- but it was an appointment, apparently without results.