Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/363

 Aprit 26, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 341 CRITICAL NOTES ON GREAT ITALIAN ARCHITECTS.—IX. FRA GIOCONDO AND THE LOMBARDI. MONK whose works are not so well known as they ought to be took an active part in the revival of antique archi- tecture in Italy. Much more fitted for the business of active life than for the monoton- ous and useless one of the cloister, he ap- pears to haye been in reality a monk in name only. Such was Fra Giovanni Giocondo, of Verona. ‘The surname of Fra Giocondo, or, as we might call him, ‘‘the merry friar” (Frater, Frate, Fra, Frére, Friar), is un- known. It appears to us not impossible that Giocondo may have been his family name, just as Gay and Merry are surnames with ourselves, Tor, certes, there seems nothing in his character to lead to the distinctive epithet of ‘‘jocund,” seeing that he was a most learned, graye, and reverend signor, dis- tinguished by uncommon erudition and great natural abilities. He appears to have been born at Verona about the middle of the fifteenth century. Amongst other acquire- ments he applied himself diligently to archi- tecture, and at an early age visited Rome and Southern Italy, gathering together a valuable series of records of antiquity, es- pecially inscriptions, which he formed into a book and dedicated to Lorenzo il Magnifico of Florence ; copies of this work still exist in the library of the Casa Maffei, at Verona, and the Magliabecchi Library at Florence. According to Vasari, the Frate, ‘‘ then re- nowned as a man of letters, an excellent architect, and well versed in the laws of per- spective, was for many years near the per- son of the Emperor Maximilian,” and whilst Verona was subject to him, it is stated that he restored the bridge Della Pietra, over the Adige, in a very scientific manner, as described by Vasari, who trusted that it might ‘‘continue to stand without injury through all time ;” but it was destroyed ina great flood, anno 1775. From the service of Maximilian he passed into that of Louis XII. of France, and designed at least one bridge over the Seine, which still exists, that of Notre Dame, besides other works for his royal patron. ‘This bridge is stated to have been finished in 1507, and it would appear that Giocondo must have been at this time also employed by the Venetian Repub- lic in one of the most important engineering works of the day—yvyiz., the diversion of the waters of the River Brenta (which, by their constant deposit of mud, threatened to fill up the channels of the Lagunes), from their natural course to Chioggia, a work of enormous labour and expense, the original idea of which is stated by Vasari to be due to Fra Giocondo himself, and which led him to be regarded by the citizens as ‘‘ the second founder of Venice.” In 1513 occurred the great fire which destroyed the quarter of the Rialto in that city, and an excellent plan was sent in to the Signoria by Giocondo for its reconstruc- tion, with a noble bridge, exchange, and fine markets. According to Vasari it was by the Government itself that Giocondo was directed to make this plan, they having already such notable proofs of his genius and practical knowledge, yet by some appa- rently sinister local influence, the recon- struction of the new quarter was finally given to a Venetian architect, Antonio Scar- pagnino, to the disgust of Giocondo, who then left the city, which he never again could be induced to visit. Vasari abuses Scarpagnino’s design roundly ; but the build- ings are not badly designed, though closely packed and too intricate; and although he speaks so disparagingly of Scarpagnino, whom he calls ‘“‘a certain Maestro Zan- fragnino,” yet to this architect is also due the fine front and great staircase of the Scuola di San Roeco (see ‘+ Cicoynara, or Architectural Art in Italy and Spain,” plate 42), the Scala d'Oro in the ducal palace, and other good works in Venice. We next meet with the Frate at Rome, where he was appointed architect to S. Peter’s, in conjunction with Raphael and Giuliano di San Gallo, on the death of Bramante in 1514, and Raphael, in a letter to his uncle, dated July 14, 1514, naively remarks that the Pope had given him ‘‘ a companion, a very learned old friar, who is upwards of eighty years of age; and as the Pope sees that he cannot live long, and as he has the reputation of great knowledge, his Holiness has given him to me asan assistant, that 1 may learn of him and discover any great secret he may have in architecture, and thus perfect myself in the art, He is called Fra Giocondo.” Now, Raphael makes two mistakes here probably. Fra Giocondo was in all likelihood given the appointment to direct as much as to assist Raphael, and not for the purpose of having his knowledge wormed out of him; and in the second case, the Frate could hardly have been eighty years of age, since he is stated to have been born in 1453, and to have died in 1530, being at that time just 83 years of age. However this may have been, Fra Giocondo is stated to have ceased acting as architect to S. Peter’s in 1518, and Raphael died in 1520. The next specific notice of Giocondo acting as architect occurs at Verona in 1521, at which time he repaired the bridge already mentioned. As regards the style of archi- tecture affected by Fra Giocondo, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi at Venice is too plain a building to judge him by, although, plain as it is, the excellence of its proportions and mouldings is very noteworthy, and the Chateau de Gaillon is ascribed to him without good authority. The best example is the Palazzo del Consiglio at Verona, which is generally attributed to him; and exhibits merit of a very high order, especially in the graceful proportions and contours of its columns, arches, and mouldings, and the moderate ap- plication of mere ornamental work, when com- pared with other buildings in Lombardy of that period, or the close of the fifteenth cen- tury, in which it is said to have been erected. The student will find a portion of the prin- cipal arcade drawn and measured in plate 25, “ Architectural Art in Italy and Spain,” by Waring and MacQuoid, which will justify our praise. But it is not as an architect and engineer alone that the name of Fra Giocondo descends to our time. He was one of the most learned men of his day, a good Greek and Roman scholar, and master in those languages to that extraordinary character the elder Scaliger, who speaks in terms of the highest admiration of his teacher, Tis principal literary works were: A treatise on Cesar’s ‘‘ Commentaries,” with a plan of his bridge over the Rhine, printed by Aldus Manutius at Venice in 1517; ‘“ Frontinus de Aqueductibus,” published with his edition of “Vitruvius,” Florence, 1513 ; another edition of ‘* Vitruvius” in 1523, both dedicated to Giuliano de Medici; and an earlier edition of 1511 dedicated to Pope Julius Il; some letters of Pliny, which he discovered at Paris, and published at Bologna in 1498; and he edited also Cato’s ‘‘ De Rebus Rusticis,” and other minor works. ‘The influence of Fra Giocondo on architecture must have been felt in Germany and France, as well as in Italy, and his style of design, probably affected in a great measure that of the Lombardi, a family of sculptorsand architects who, together with the Bergamaschi, gave the Renaissance of Venice a marked and characteristic im- press. As these artists have seldom had justice done to them in this respect (Vasari speaking only of ‘Tullio Lombardo as an ex- cellent sculptor), we will mention some of their principal works, and describe their chief features. ‘The first member of the family, according to Cicognara, who obtained repute as an architect, was Pietro Lombardo, who designed the very fine and characteristic palace Vendranim-Calerghi, in 1481,and about the same time completed the beautiful little marked, however, that Martin Lombardo would appear to have been the principal founder of the style, as seen in the richly decorated church of S. Zaccaria, erected by him about the year 1457. The two brothers, however, may be considered as contem- poraries—a few years one way or the other makes little importance—and both were equally distinguished ‘as architects. To Martin also is ascribed the very ornamental and picturesque Scuola di San Mareo, erected about the year 1485. The church of San Giovanni Crisostomo is ascribed to Tullio Lombardo, anno 1483, to whom also is at- tributed the church of San Salvatore. Tullio and Antonio were sons of Pietro, and executed some fine marble bas reliefs in the chapel of S. Antonio at Padua, the church of the Madonna Grande at Treviso, three chapels in the church of San Paolo, and the chapel of Sacrament in the Duomo, and the Pola Palace (Treviso). To Pietro are due also the mortuary chapel of Dante at tavenna in 1482, the well-known clock tower on the north side of the Piazza San Marco at Venice, the church of S. M. Mater Domini, the Scuola of the Misericordia, the cloister of Santa Giustina at Padua, and the monu- ments to Giambattista Zeno in San Marco, and to the Mocenigi in S. John and §. Paul, assisted by his sons Tullio and Antonio. He also prepared a design for the Procuratie Vecchie in 1500, but the present building was carried out under the direction of Maestro Buono (Bergamasco). The Palazzi Contarini, Trevisani, Grade- nigo, Dario, and Manzoni are generally attributed to members of this family, as well as the canal front of the Scuola di San Rocco, and the staircase of the same, the latter being ascribed to Santo Lombardo, who appears to have been the last of the family, born in 1604 and dying in 1560, ‘The characteristics of their style are mainly great richness of sculptured decoration in rather low relief, the free use of coloured marble inlay, arched and arcaded apertures, round-headed windows, formed with double arched lights and central coluun, pilasters richly sculptured, balconies with collonettes, and bold, well-designed bases, which give their buildings an appear- ance of unusual strength; and through all these buildings may be traced an influence, perhaps unconsciously to the designers them- selves, of that peculiar Byzantine character, which is so strikingly illustrated in the grand old cathedral of S. Mark. ‘The rich and sensuous style affected by these artists ex- tended thus through more than half a century, and its influence, acting again on the taste of the great Florentine Sansovino, was destined to produce works which give such a truly noble and palatial character to the principal buildings of ‘¢ The Queen of the Adriatic.” ——.— FINE ART EXHIBITION AT PLYMOUTH. A CORRESPONDENT sends us the following :— ‘On April 15th was opened the finest collec- tion of works by living artists of Devon and Corn- wall ever brought together. The exhibition will re- main open three weeks, and is the first of what is intended to be an annual event. Very few artists have allowed themselves to be unrepresented in the collection, and with few exceptions the pictures have been produced expressly for this exhibition, and have never been seen in public elsewhere. Alto- gether, they do hcnour to the architectural wealth of the district. There are about one hundred and thirty exhibitors, amongst whom the names of Widgery, Micehell, Whitaker, Pike, Gibbons, Collier, and other well known West of England men appear. Mr. Harry Hems, sculptor, exhibits a number of photo- graphs which are very interesting to the architectural student. They are taken from works executed during the past year. One series embraces the nave capitals, corbels, angels, reredos, &ec., at Mr. B. Ferrey’s beau- tiful church of S. Michael Otterton, Devon, built recently from that gentleman’s design, for Lady Rolle, The ornament is Early in its character, and worthy of much praise. We understand a fee is charged for admittance into this church to visitors. There are also a number of photographs of the carv- church of S. M. de’Miracoli. It is to be re- | ing at Mr. J. H. Hirst’s new Church of S. Peter's,