Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 5.djvu/225

Rh dator Annibale Caro, who furnished them by commision from the Cardinal.

“The subjects,” observes Annibale, ‘‘ which the Cardinal has commanded me to give for the paintings of his Palace of Caprarola, cannot be rendered sufficiently intelligible in words, wherefore I propose to describe them as briefly as I can on paper; and first, for the room with a level ceiling (the only one of which I have yet received the charge), it appears to me that, since it is the bed-chamber of his most illustrious Lordship, there should here be executed subjects appropriate to the place, and also out of the common way, whether as regards the invention or workmanship. And first, to express my idea generally, I would have Night there, seeing that this subject, being both appropriate and uncommon, would be different from those in the other rooms; it would also afford you an opportunity for executing many beautiful and extraordinary specimens of your art, and the rather, as strong lights and deep shadows are wont to give much relief and effect to the figures. The time of this Night I would have approaching the Dawn, since the visibility of the objects represented would thus be probable; but before descending to the particulars of these objects, we must first consider the situation and divisions of the chamber.

“Let us suppose it then to be divided (as it is) into a ceiling and walls; the first has a concave oval in the centre, with four large corbels in the angles; between the corbels are four lunettes, and if we now give its name to each of the parts, according to the division which we shall make of the whole chamber, we can then more readily distinguish every part. Let us then divide these parts into five; the first shall be ‘the head,’ and this we will suppose to be towards the Garden; the second, or opposite to this, we will call ‘the footj’ the third, ‘the right,’ and the fourth, ‘the left;’ the fifth part, which we will suppose to be amidst all these, shall be called ‘the centre.’ We shall thus be able to distinguish every part by its name. We will also determine the place on the floor which should be occupied by the bed, and this, as I think, should be along the wall at ‘the foot,’ with its head towards ‘the left.’ Having thus named all the parts, we will first give directions for the work generally, and then for each point in particular. The oval concave of the ceiling