he was therefore much disliked in Bologna by the artists of that city, who have, indeed, always been moved by envy to the hatred of strangers invited thither to work;[1] nay, they sometimes exhibit the same feeling in rivalry among themselves, but this may indeed be considered a vice common to the professors of our arts in all places.[2] Certain Bolognese painters, therefore, agreed one day with a joiner, and having, by means of this man, shut themselves up in the church, near the chapel where Ercole was wmrking, they entered the latter by force on the following night. Not content with examining the work, which ought to have sufficed them, they proceeded to carry off all the cartoons, sketches, drawings, and every other useful thing that they could find, a thing which caused Ercole so much vexation, that when the work was completed he quitted Bologna without further delay, taking with him Duca Tagliapietra, a sculptor of considerable renown,[3] by whom the beautiful foliage in marble was executed, which decorated the front of the chapel wherein the above-described work of Ercole was painted. The same sculptor likewise executed all the stone-work of the windows in the palace of the Duke at Ferrara, which are exceedingly beautiful.[4] In company with this artist, therefore, Ercole, having become weary at length of abiding at a distance from his home, remained ever after in Ferrara, where he performed many works.[5]
Ercole da Ferrara had an inordinate love of wine, and was frequently intoxicated, insomuch that his life was shortened by this habit. He had attained, without accident, to his fortieth year, when he was suddenly struck by apoplexy, which in a short time put an end to his existence.
- ↑ Who knows but that this remark may have procured for Vasari the harsh censures of Malvasia, and the virulent diatribes of Caracci?—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
- ↑ Lanzi remarks, that if Vasari speaks of the envy of foreign artists, neither does lie conceal that of the Florentines. Witness his own life, that of Donatello, and still more strikingly, that of Pietro Perugino.
- ↑ “Now,” remarks Bottari, “but little known.”
- ↑ Probably the ancient palace of the Este family, opposite to the Duomo, since the Castello has no windows richly decorated with marble. —Ed. Flor.y 1849.
- ↑ For details respecting these works, see Baruffaldi, ut supra.
