Vincenzio had attained to a very fair reputation in Rome, when in the year 1527 the ruin and sack of that unhappy city, which had been the mistress of the nations, took place; whereupon, being grieved beyond measure at the destruction he had witnessed, our artist returned to his native place of San Gimignano. The sufferings which he had undergone may perhaps have diminished his devotion to the studies of art, and the being deprived of that air from which the spirits of those who produce the beauties and marvels of art derive their nourishment, may also have affected him; be this as it may, Yincenzio suffered a grievous change, and although he did execute certain works at a later period, yet I prefer to pass them over in silence, that I may not obscure the renown and the greatness of that name which he had so honourably acquired for himself in Rome.[1] Let it suffice to remark, that adverse fate is but too frequently seen to turn the mind from its first object of pursuit, and does indeed sometimes compel the pilgrim into a totally opposite path. This happened also in the case of a companion of Yincenzio called Schizzone, who performed works in the Borgo which were highly commended, as he likewise did in the Campo Santo of Rome, and in San Stefano degf Indiani, but he also was led by the disorders of the soldiery to abandon the path of art, and in a very short time lost his life. Yincenzio died in his native place of San Gimignano, having had but little enjoyment of his life after his departure from Rome.
The painter, Timoteo of Urbino was the son of Bartolommeo della Vite, a citizen of decent condition, and of Calliope, the daughter of Maestro Antonio Alberto of Ferrara,[2] a tolerably good painter of his time, as his works at Urbino and elsewhere sufficiently demonstrate. His father died while Timoteo was still a child, and he was left to the guardian-
- ↑ In the church of Sant’ Agostino, at San Gimignano, are the pictures of the Cintola, and that of the altar of Sant’ Anna, both by Vincenzio. The picture of the High Altar in the church of San Girolamo, at the same place, is also by his hand. In the suppressed Convent of Santa Caterina, there is a Marriage of St. Catherine in fresco, by Yincenzio, and in the Dresden Gallery is an exquisite Madonna by this master, which is well known by engravings.
- ↑ For minute details respecting this artist, the reader is referred to Pungileoni, Elogio Storico di Timoteo Viti, Urbino, 1835. See also Grossi, Commentario degli Uomini Illustri d’Urbino.
