Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Desiderio da Settignano

by Giorgio Vasari

 

DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO, SCULPTOR.

[Born in the first years of the 15th century—Died 1485.]

Very great is the amount of gratitude which is due to Heaven and to Nature, from those who are able to produce their works without effort and with a certain grace which others cannot impart to their productions, whether by study or imitation. For this is in truth a gift of Heaven, showered, so to speak, over certain works in such a manner that they bear about them a loveliness and attraction wliich draw towards them not only those who are well versed in art, but even many who are not connected with it. And this proceeds from the idea of ease and facility which the truly good presents, never offering to the eyes that hard and crude aspect so frequently given to works produced painfully and with laboured efforts; by such grace and simplicity, which pleases universally and is understood by all, are distinguished the works performed by Desiderio.

Many affirm, that this artist belonged to Settignano, a place two miles distant from Florence, while others consider him a Florentine; bnt this is of little consequence, seeing that the two places are so near together. Desiderio imitated the manner of Donato,^[1] although he was himself endowed by nature with the power of imparting extraordinary grace and loveliness to his heads; and the faces of his women and children exhibit the most charming sweetness and the softest delicacy, qualities which he derived as much from nature, by whom he was disposed to the art, as from the zeal and study wherewith he disciplined and exercised his genius. Desiderio worked in his youth on the pedestal of Donato’s David, which is in the ducal palace of Florence, and on this he executed harpies in marble, of extraordinary merit, as also vine-leaves, with their tendrils, in bronze, which are very graceful and most ably executed.^[2] On the fagade of the Grianfigliazzi palace, he sculptured the armorial bearings of the family, of a large size and very finely done, with a lion, which is most beautiful; and other works in stone now dispersed over different parts of the city. For the church of the Carmine, Desiderio carved an Angel^[3] in wood, which was placed in the chapel of the Brancacci; and in the church of San Lorenzo he completed the decorations, in marble, for the chapel of the Sacrament, a work which he conducted with great diligence to the utmost perfection. In this chapel there was the figure of a child by our artist, in full relief, which was removed from its place, and is now wont to be set upon the altar on the feast of the Nativity, as an extraordinary thing; and in its stead another was made by Baccio da Montelupo, also in marble, which stands constantly on the tabernacle of the Sacrament.^[4] In Santa Maria Novella, Desiderio constructed the marble sepulchre of the Beata Villana,^[5] a work wherein there are certain little angels which are very graceful, as is the portrait of the Beata herself, taken from the life. She does not seem to be dead, but merely asleep. For the Nuns of the Murate likewise he executed a small figure of the Virgin, to stand on a column in a tabernacle, which is also in a very pleasing and graceful manner, insomuch that both these works were always held in the utmost esteem, and are still very highly prized.^[6] Desiderio executed the marble tabernacle of the Sacrament in the church of San Pietro Maggiore, with his accustomed diligence; and although there are no figures in this work, it gives evidence, nevertheless, of a very fine manner, and has infinite grace, like all the other works by his hand.ì^[7] This artist sculptured the portrait of Marietta degli Strozzi, likewise in marble, and taken from the life, and, as the Lady was exceedingly beautiful, the bust is a very admirable one.^[8]

The tomb of Messer Carlo Marsuppini, of Arezzo, in the church of Santa Croce, was also erected by this master, and the work not only caused amazement in the artists and other well-informed persons, who then examined it, but continues to surprise all who see it in the present day: Desiderio having executed foliage on the sarcophagus, which, although somewhat hard and dry, yet, as but few antiquities had at that time been discovered, was then considered a very beautiful thing. Again, among other particulars of this work, are certain wings which form part of the ornaments of the sarcophagus, and seem rather to be of actual feathers than of stone, a thing very difficult to produce in marble, since it is almost impossible to copy hair and feathers with the chisel. There are, besides, several Children and Angels, executed in a manner which is truly beautiful and animated. The figure of the Dead, a portrait from nature, extended on the tomb, is of the utmost excellence; and on a medallion is the efiigy of Our Lady in basso-tilievo, treated after the manner of Donato, and finished with great judgment as well as extraordinary grace.^[9] These qualities are likewise to be remarked in many other bassi-rilievi in marble by Desiderio, some of which are in the guardaroha of the lord Duke Cosimo, more particularly a medallion with the head of Jesus Christ, and that of John the Baptist, as a child.^[10] At the foot of Messer Carlo’s tomb, Desiderio laid a large stone to the memory of Messer Giorgio, a renowned doctor and legist, who was secretary to the Signoria of Florence,^[11] with a basso-rilievo, which is very beautiful, and wherein is the portrait of Messer Giorgio, clothed in the robes of a doctor, according to the fashion of that time.

Had not death so prematurely deprived the world of that powerful mind which thus laboured with such admirable effect, Desiderio would, without doubt, have profited to such extent by the experience of the future, as to have surpassed all others, as much in knowledge of art as he did in grace. But the thread of his life was cut short at the age of twentyeight,^[12] to the deep grief of all those who had hoped to behold the perfection, to which such a genius would have attained in its maturity, and who were more than dismayed by so great a loss. He was followed by his relations and numerous friends to the church of the Servites; and on his tomb there continued for a long time to be placed epigrams and sonnets, from the number of which it shall suffice me to insert the following:—

Come vide natura
Dar Desiderio ai freddi marmi vita,
E poter la scultura
Agguagliar sua bellezza alma e infinita,
Si fermò shigottita
E disse; omai sarà mia gloria oscura.
E piena d'alto sdegno
Troncò la vita a così bell'ingegno
Ma in van, perchè costui
Diè vita eterna ai marmi, e i marmi a lui.^[13]

The works of Desiderio were performed about the year 1485. He left the sketched figure of a Magdalene in penitence, which was finished at a later period by Benedetto da Maiano, and is now in the church of Santa Trinita at Florence, on the right as you enter the church.^[14] This figure is beautiful beyond the power of words to express. In our book are certain drawings by Desiderio, which are very fine; his portrait I have obtained from some of his connections in Settignano.

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1. Vasari, in the Life of Donato, calls Desiderio a disciple of that master, and Baldiniicci supports this opinion.
2. Of this work, the Florentine commentators profess their inability to render any account, but Cicognara believes it to be that beautiful pedestal in bronze, on which the antique Mercury, or Bacchus, found at Pesaro, is placed, and which is now in the Florentine Gallery (Corridor of Ancient Bronzes.) For his remarks on this subject, see Storia della Scultura, tom. ii. p. 73.
3. The Lion is still in existence,but the Angel has disappeared; it was probably destroyed in the conflagration of the church.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
4. The decorations of the chapel of the Sacrament were transported to the opposite side of the church in 1677, and are there still. The Child here mentioned was on that occasion restored to its original place.— Thid» See also Cicognara, Storie, &c., pl. lx.
5. That the tomb of the Beata Villana is by Bernardo Gamberelli, the brother of Antonio Rossellino (Gamberelli), and not by Desiderio, has already been stated.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8. See ante, p. 130, note.
6. This figure, which stood in the Dispensary of the Nuns, was cast down by the flood of 1557, and was broken to pieces. It was afterwards restored and placed in a small oratory, dedicated to St. Mary of the Snows, and is still preserved; but its merits are no longer perceptible, the figure having been coarsely covered over with oil-paint.
7. On the ruin of the church, in 1784, the ciborium, or tabernacle, was removed to the shop of a marble-worker in the Piazza Madonna (Florence), where it is still preservEd. Flor.ntine Editions of 1838 and 1849.
8. Now in the garden of the Strozzi Palace.— Ibidem.
9. See Gonnelli, Monumenti Sepolcrali della Toscana. For engravings of this tomb, see also Cicognara, Storia, &c., who justly remarks, that while the sepulchral monuments, executed at this time, surpass those of earlier masters in beauty of workmanship and decoration, they carefully retain the Christian symbols so appropriate to the occasion, and so ill-replaced by tlae classical ornaments, frequently far-fetched allegorical representations, of a later period.
10. The fate of this work is not known.
11. Still to be seen, but the relief is much injured by the feet of the passers; the inscription is now illegible; but from Richa, who copied it, we find that this Marsuppini was called Gregorio, not Giorgio, and was secretary, not to the Signoria of Florence, but to the king of France.
12. There are good reasons for believing that Desiderio lived to a more advanced age than is here assigned to him.
13.     When nature saw
        That Desiderio gave cold marble, life;
        Saw that the sculptor’s power approached her own;
        Adding to forms of beauty, life and soul;
        Aghast she stood, and cried: “Now darkened all,
        From henceforth is my glory.” Then vast rage
        And high disdain possessed her, and she quenched
        The light of that bold genius. But in vain;
        The life he gave to marble, marble gives
        To him for ever.
    
    
14. This figure is still in its place. The life of Benedetto da Maiano follows.