placed between the paintings[1] executed in the loggie, as well as for those in other parts; and as superintendent of all these grottesche in stucco, he appointed Giovanni da Udine, Giulio Romano being commissioned to prepare the figures; but the latter did not work at them to any great extent. The Pontiff also commissioned Giovanni Francesco,[2] Il Bologna,[3] Perino del Yaga, Pellegrino da Modena, Vincenzio of San Gimignano, and Polidoro da Caravaggio,[4] with many other artists, to execute historical pictures, separate figures and many other portions of the works, all which Raphael caused to be completed with so much care, that he even suffered the pavement to be procured in Florence from Luca della Robbia,[5] inasmuch that, whether for the paintings, the stucco work, the architecture or other beautiful inventions, a more admirable performance could not be executed, nay, could scarcely be imagined; its perfection was indeed the cause of Raphael’s receiving the charge of all the works in painting and architecture that were to be executed in the palace.
It is said that Raphael was so courteous and obliging, that for the convenience of certain among his friends, he commanded the masons not to build the walls in a firm uninterrupted range, but to leave certain spaces and apertures among the old chambers on the lower floors, to the end that they might store casks, pipes, firewood, &c., therein; but these hollows and spaces weakened the base of the walls, so that it has since become needful to fill them in, seeing that the whole work began to show cracks and other signs of deterioration. For all the doors, wainscots, and other portions ornamented in woodwork, Raphael caused fine carvings to be prepared, and these were executed and finished in a very graceful manner by Gian Barile.[6]
- ↑ Forty-eight subjects from the Old Testament namely, and four from the New, known as “The Bible of Raphael.” He surrounded them with mythological representations, giving the designs of all himself. See Passavant, vols. i, and ii.
- ↑ Giovanni Francesco Penni, called Il Fattore, whose life follows.
- ↑ Bartolommeo Ramenghi, called from his birth-place, II Bagnacavallo; his life also follows.
- ↑ The lives of all these masters follow in due course.
- ↑ Not from Luca della Robbia, who was then dead, but from his nephew Andrea. — Ed. Flor. 1832-8.
- ↑ For details respecting this celebrated carver in wood, see Della Valle,
