"The Salutation of Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary," so good, to use his own words, it could not have been better from the hands of Raphael or Andrew del Sarto. The picture, which originally existed in the church of the nuns of St. Chiara in Milan, being much injured by time, was divided into several pieces, and of that which remains-the "Virgin and Child"- -now adorns the Carrara Gallery in Bergamo. In one of the chapels of the Basilica of St. Ambrozio at Milan, there is, by his hand, the picture of the "Madonna and Child," who is gathering a fruit presented to it by St. Bartolomeo, whose figure is on one side, whilst that of St. John is on the opposite-a symmetrical and beautiful composition. The celebrated Professor Scarpa possessed an excellent picture of the Redeemer; it had been the principal figure in a picture which Ferrari had painted for the church of Maggianico, near Lecco. The noble house of Taverna, near Milan, had an oil picture of the birth of the Saviour, a replica of which is to be found in the Royal Gallery of Paris, and is engraved by Poilly. Ferrari, although now he must have been much advanced in years, was recalled to Varallo, where he finished the "Chapel of the Magi" (in the same of that of the Crucifixion). The kings on horseback are arriving before the castle, and are very richly dressed. Their numerous suite are painted on the walls, and are marvellously well in costume, according to the bizzarre dress of the different nations, and are well grouped in a spirited and bold style; it yields, however, to the other chapel, and for some reason or other he left it to be finished by his scholars. In that magnificent work entitled "La Reale Galleria di Torino illustrata da Roberta d'Azeglio," Gaudenzio's picture of the "Descent from the Cross" was first engraved; and the celebrated illustrator takes occasion to remark how Gaudenzio came forth from the school of Giovenone already a finished painter; and how that, on this account, and the place where he was born, his merits are to be ascribed to the Piedmontese and not to the Milanese school, as Lanzi erroneously did. Great connoisseur as he was in the paintings of Giovenone, he also observed that Ferrari always kept some traces of his early instruction, although the knowledge and the perfection which he acquired at Rome had in a measure overcome it. "It appears also to me," so says his biographer, and very justly, "that Giovenone must be considered his master;" and that the first time Ferrari went to Milan he did not remain under the tuition of Scotto, as some assert. He having already painted in several places on his own account, that he should not have left any trace of his pencil, seems inconceivable if, as it is said, he painted for himself at that time—he having invariably left some proof of his art wherever he went. In order, if possible, not to forget any of his works, mention must be made of "Presépio," belonging to the late Counsellor Mainovi, which was engraved by the aforesaid Fumagalli, as a wonderful work of art and grace. There is also in the Royal Gallery at Turin, another picture of St. Peter and a worshipper, which must have been a part of the folding picture in the chapel of the palace at Rivoli. There are also cartoons in the Academy at Turin; amongst which there is the one representing Mary Magdalen carried to heaven by angels, and which is carried out in the Carrara Gallery at Bergamo, and some others of the execution of which nothing is known. Lomazzo speaks of the painting made by Gaudenzio in Valtellina; of the first it is not 'known what has become of it; it existed, says he, in Traona, and represented Christ in the act of crowning his mother in the heavens, surrounded by a numerous choir of angels holding musical instruments. This work, he adds, breathed beauty and grace in the expressions of the faces, and was admirable from the variety of postures and the instruments, so much so, that in his work he recommends this and the cupola of Saronno to the young students of painting as excellent models. The second picture named by him is to be seen at Morbegno. It is a "Presepio," in the lunette over the door of the supposed church of St. Anthony. Ferrari's last works were for the church of La Pace at Milan, the picture over the high altar representing the "Birth of the Virgin Mary;" and the church being destroyed it remained the property of the Prince of Aresini, from whom it passed to the Count St. Sanguiliani, and the paintings in fresco representing various events in the life of the Virgin and St. John, were transported into the Brera Pinacotheca. These are the pictures which remained incomplete on account of the painter's death, so that Vasari, if he did not intend to write a libel, must have had his mind confused, and must have intended to speak of this instead of the "Last Supper" at the Church of the Passion, which, as we have said, could not have been more highly finished. Ferrari died at Milan at the end of 1549, aged sixty-five. By Lomazzo he is enumerated amongst the seven first painters of the world. Perhaps this is going too far, but certain it is that in carrying out great stories he was very remarkable, having received from nature the greatest facility of inventing and varying his compositions, even in the constant repetitions of the same subjects, however numerous they were. He also, as Lanzi has remarked, knew well how to express the majesty of the Divine Being and the affections of piety. His saints always breathe reverence and devotion-his angels grace, and his women modesty; his men decorum and dignity, and his children and youths innocence and ingenuousness. He had the power to express with great strength the atrocious passions of ruffians and demons, he having shown himself in such things terrible, strange, and full of wild imageryindeed he might, with advantage, have sometimes left out the natural defects with which he gifted them. In representing naked forms he preferred beauty to muscular force, and in his faces and attitudes he made the feelings speak. In his dresses he introduced great richness, often showing caprice in the folds of the drapery and the ornaments. He laboured hard at the accessories and in many cases in his early years he made use of relief in his ornaments, as did also Pinturicchio and some others. In the colouring he succeeded so well that where his works are to be found the eye at once detects them, and rests upon them in admiration. As to his women and children, the above-quoted Fumagalli, an excellent judge, declared, and with great truth, that "Ferrari did not find his models in memory, or classical works, nor in ideal beauty, but that he found them, and selected them from nature only, 'You may find them,' says he, 'living and breathing amongst the population of his native valley-Varallo, on a fête or market-day, offers in children especially, in babes and their mothers, a character of beauty which could be found with difficulty in the finest works of art. In the adjacent valleys, in the neighbouring Forbello, you will make likenesses and it will be said that you have made inventions." Perhaps from this fondness for copying nature, we owe his constant habit of painting tresses bordering on red, a hue which predominates amongst the beautiful inhabitants of that valley to the present hour. In those of his pictures where landscapes form a great part he was ever excellent and diversiful; it is therefore most probable he made himself master of this part of his art by also painting from nature-the fantastic shapes of rocks-the rough and broken and decayed stumps of trees or stones, with which the country about Varallo abounds-the Valsesia being highly picturesque. When, instead of landscape, his subject demanded some architectural design, such are ever introduced with great judgment, and the perspective is admirable. Somewhat in the style of Bramanti, and as a lover of branch of art, he every several good examples of the grotesque. gave He was In every work requiring genius he always took delight. strong and grand in forming figures in plaster, at that time much in fashion, and his figures in the chapel at Varallo demonstrate his talents in this branch of the art; and history informs us that he was also a philosopher, an architect, a mathematician, an optician, and that he was something of a poet, and accompanied himself in improvising with a lute. He painted himself at about the age of twenty-nine in the dress of a pilgrim, amongst the group of figures in the compartment of the Crucifixion on the screen in the Franciscan church at Varallo; and again at the age of forty, in the same costume, on the wall of the chapel of the Crucifixion on the Sacro Monte; and again eight years after in the Magdalen at Vercelli. Lanino, his favourite scholar, painted him in the same manner in the old church of the Sacro Monte at Varallo, introduced in a picture of Pentecost; and later at the age of sixty-two in the magnificent painting of the "Martyrdom of St. Catherine," in a chapel adjoining the basilica of St. Nazzaro in Milan; and from these portraits it would appear that he was of the middle height, his forehead somewhat bald, his hair and beard inclining to red, his eyes rather small, and his nose aquiline--but on the whole a fine face. In manners he was simple, of a graceful carriage, and very tenacious concerning the customs of his native country to which he was fondly attached, so much so that he ever preferred employing his genius rather in his own country than elsewhere, as he never left Varallo, where he had taken a house, except when the works on the mount were suspended, and where he had expected to find employment for life. His wife was Maria della Foppa of Morbegno, in Valtellina; which fact escaped the researches of Bordiga, who states him to have been unmarried. He was an excellent Christian and citizen, and led a life of honourable exertion, so that he obtained the epithet of eximie pius from the senate of Novara. Thus it was that he succeeded so well with divine countenances, and which cannot be attained without faith. Country sports and pastimes delighted him, and he could be amusing and gay, but never to the detriment of the good name of others—always generous, he cared not for money, and he was an affectionate and excellent master, and left many scholars eminent in his art-amongst the number were Bernadino Lanini, above-mentioned, of Vercelli; Fermo Stella of Caravaggio, who was mentioned by Il Quadrio amongst the Valtelline painters as having passed the greater part of his life painting in different churches, particularly in those at Teglio and Mazzo; Giulio Cesare Luin of Varallo; Antonio Zanetti of Bugnato; Giovanni Battista della Cerva of Milan, who is quoted by Vasari as a good colourist, and hard-working artist; and Bernardo Ferrari of Vigevano, mentioned by Lomazzo with much admiration. Lomazzo, indeed, as Lanzi observed, learnt much of his opinions on art from Ferrari, so that the greater part of the opinions recorded in his work are to be attributed to Ferrari.* Bordija, the compatriot of Ferrari, distressed at the destruction by time of so many of Gaudenzio's works, and seeing many more of them in a course of ruin, has undertaken to collect and engrave them with the assistance of Signor Pianazzi, likewise a countryman of Ferrari's. Bordija died in 1837, since which time the work has been continued by Pianazzi. The engravings are executed with great talent, and the expressions of the heads have, as much as possible for the size, that of the glorious originals. From a small pamphlet published at Milan by Signor A. Perpenti, I have found the substance of the above sketch of the life of Gaudenzio, and have translated it, hoping it will enable the lovers of the arts to find such of that painter's works as still exist. THE RIVER. BY MRS. PONSONBY. UPON thy breast, oh! gliding river, The sunbeams shine, the moonbeams quiver; Reflected on thy face we view Alike morn's rose and noontide's blue, The golden tints of evening's hour The storm's wild beauty and its power. But thou, bright Spring! so closely seal'd, 'Tis thine to image forth the mind Too blest on that dear shrine to pour All hope, love, faith for evermore. The lovers of art will do well to visit any places containing works of the above pupils of Gaudenzio-all of whom, but Fermo Stella in particular, were artists of no ordinary powers. ADRIEN ROUX; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF A COURIER. Diversité c'est ma devise.-LA FONTAINE. CHAP. I. THE ENFANS TROUVÉS. THIS is a 66 true history" in which I purpose to disclose such of my life's adventures as may possibly instruct, and, I would fain hope, amuse the travelled English to whom they are dedicated. It is not conscience which impels me to the act, for I am not yet forty, and have still an excellent digestion; neither is it any lack of the esprit de corps which so closely binds our fraternity together; neither do I reveal my experiences to gratify any lurking desire for revenge-for that has been always satisfied with promptitude enough. It is easier, perhaps, to define what is not rather than, what is my motive in giving these pages to the world-for motives are always of difficult analysis; let it pass for " humour," unless the intelligent reader puts a better construction upon it on finding himself tant soit peu wiser when he lays them down than when he took them up. my In all matters of autobiography there is a certain portion which must necessarily be derived from the tales told by those who watched the infant in its cradle, and witnessed the first struggles that childhood makes to scramble along the high-road of life, the pavé of which is at all times somewhat of the hardest. The best memory must be at fault to describe any thing beyond magnified impressions of the two or three events which form the sum total of a child's history while his mind is yet in the hands of others, and before he is capable of assigning a reason for aught that befals him. "Quickly comes such 'knowledge," soon taught by buffets and privations, but in the meantime he must take on trust what eye-witnesses allege, and adopt their story as his own. It is not every one, situated as I was when the infant cry is heard which compensates for all a mother's pain, who could tell of his earliest days as I am able to do, for the enfant trouvé has parents only by chance; but she who acted the part of a mother and a nurse towards me took an interest in my young existence, as warm and earnest as if it had drawn its source from her own bosom, and the minuteness with which she dwelt on facts indifferent to all but ourselves, has fixed them so firmly in my memory, that the actual remembrance of the events could hardly make them stronger. There are few people then living-certainly no Frenchmen-who have forgotten the hard winter of 1813. It was not necessary to have gone to Moscow to recollect the severity of the frost which hardened the earth and threw an icy mask over the fast-flowing rivers of all Europe. In Paris it was deeply felt; but hard as was the earth, and thick the ice that contracted the current of the stream, there were yet found hearts as hard, |
