perhaps even more, probable, that the misfortunes
by fire and otherwise,^ which have overtaken the
Mantuan and Ferrarese Archives, are responsible
for the total disappearance of valuable documents,
which might have thrown light upon this obscure
period of our painter's history.
On May 3rd, 15 18, the painter wrote the two
following letters : to the Marquis of Mantua and
the Duke of Ferrara respectively :
1 The letter to Alfonso d'Este quoted here has been badly burnt.
BAZZrS LETTERS 163
To THE Most Illustrious Lord Francesco deGonzaga,
Marquis.^
To Mantua to his Most Honourable Lord to Mantua.
Most illustrious Lord, the Lord most honoured by me,
Health. Some days ago, when passing through Siena, on
his way to Rome, Signor Aloysius, the brother and rela-
tive of Your most Illustrious Lordship, deigning to come
to my room, and going through the garden at his leisure, I
told him that I had a wish that you should have something
of my work as a memorial of my duty. He told me that
to make a picture of the Madonna with her Infant and
S. Francis would be most agreeable to you. I would much
prefer to know if you have any other desire, and in such
case, God willing, I will come and visit your Illustrious
Lordship, and bring with me the said picture. I had made
a Lucretia for Your Illustrious Lordship, but on my way
to present it, it was seen in Florence by his Magnificence
Giuliano, and I was compelled to leave it with him. I
pray Your 111. Lordship will certainly deign a very small
reply to let me know His wishes, and I am always ready
to please Him, to whom may God give happiness for a
long period.
E.D.V.S.,
2,rd May, 1518. lo Antonius Sodona (.tzV),
Knight of Siena {Eques Senis).
To Ferrara.
To THE MOST Illustrious Lord, Lord Alfonso
d'Este, Duke, his Most Honourable Lord.
Most illustrious Lord, Lord by me most honoured by
humble commendation. Health. This is to inform you
that some time since, when I was with His Holiness
^ Nuovi Documenti, p. 412, No. 209. It is as well to observe that
the heading of this document as printed here, contradicting the letter
itself, runs as follows : " Lettera di Gio. Anton. Bazzi detto il Sodoma
a Francesco Gonzaga Duca di Mantova con la quale offre al Duca. . . ."
For the originals of both these letters of. Appendix Nos. 16 and i6a.
i64 MIDDLE PERIOD
Pope Leo in Florence, your ambassador gave me a com-
mission for your Lordship to make a S. George on horse-
back killing the dragon {viperd), which I now have finished,
and hold in readiness for your Lordship. A few days
ago, not far from Siena, by chance, I met the Ferrarese
messenger della Colonna, your servant, and I told him
that the said picture was altogether at the service of your
lordship. And he promised to inform your most Illust.
Lordship.
I hope in the coming Summer to go to interview the
Marquis of Mantua, for whom I have made certain pic-
tures, and peradventure I shall come as far as to visit
your Illust. lordship, and bring with me the said picture.
I pray that if your lordship wishes for anything else . . .
by sending me a very small reply, I shall be most agreable
to do anything that may be pleasing to your most Illust.
Lordship, to whom I most humbly recommend myself,
and that God will give you happiness for a long time.
E.D.V.S.,
^rd May, 1518. lo Antonius Sodona.^
Knight of Siena.
In these two letters, which corroborate each other
in several important instances, we find mention
of three pictures namely, a Madonna and Child
with S. Francis, a Lucretia, and a 6*. George. It is
always a somewhat invidious venture to dogmatize
concerning the identity of pictures on such slender
evidence as is afforded in this case ; but it would
seem not unreasonable to infer, both from the
style of the painting and other similar indications,
^ Nuovi Documenti, p. 421, No. 212. The former of the documents
was discovered by the late Marchese Giuseppe Campori, and the latter
by Cav. Adolfo Venturi, who published it in his La Reale Galleria
Estense. Modena, 1882.
It is to be observed that in both these letters our artist calls himself
SODONA.
ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.
SIR FREDEKICK COOk'S COLLECTION, RICHMOND.
To /ace p. 165
-LUCRETIA" 165
that the wS. George'^ may be sought to-day in the
collection of Sir Frederic Cook at Doughty House,
Richmond. The Madonna and Child we might
perhaps also trace in the picture belonging to
Alexander Henderson, Esq., M.P. (Buscot Park,
Berks). And, lastly, the Lticretia may be the one
now in the Royal Gallery at Turin. We have
already stated our reasons for proposing, on his-
torical grounds, that this work may be identical
with the painting that came into the possession of
Leo X. : but it also seems to us that the ntidity is
more obvious here than in the Kestner example,
which critics have hitherto fixed upon as the
Lucretia thus recorded by Vasari. Furthermore,
the lines
Cur te non duro penetras Lucretia ferro
Quod tenet hinc consors quod tenet m^& pater,
from Eurialo Morani's poem referred to above
(since they indicate the presence of at least two
other persons in the composition), certainly tend
to support our argument.^
^ This work is said to have been bought in Siena by the late Earl of
Shrewsbury. See Catalogue of Pictures of the Lombardo-Milanese School
exhibited by the Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1898, No. 34. It
is perhaps worthy of note that a canvas (i m. 75 cm. x i m. 13 cm.)
representing this same subject, and attributed to Jean Antoine Razzi
(sic), was sold from the collection of Don Marcello Massarenti in Rome
in 1877, Lot 40,
2 Vasari {Op. cit., vol. vi. p. 396) describes another Lucretia, painted
by Bazzi for Assuero Rettori da S. Martino, thus : *' Una tela che fece
per Assuero Rettori da San Martino, nella quale e una Lucrezia Romana
che si ferisce, mentre h tenuta dal padre e dal marito ; fatti con belle
attitudini e bella grazia di teste." Here we are told that the father
and husband of the unfortunate heroine were also represented; and
that the whole was remarkable " for the charming attitudes and the fine
grace of the heads." This painting may perhaps be recognised in the
i66 MIDDLE PERIOD
As we have seen, then, the evidence of the
S. Bernardino accounts would suggest that Bazzi
did not leave Siena until January 15 19. From
that date until 1525, he disappears from our view.
Endless conjectures have been formed as to his
place of residence and doings during these six
years. ^ The fact that at about this period Michel
Angelo Anselmi reappeared in his native town of
Parma, would seem to suggest that the master did
turn his steps northwards, and that the disciple
accompanied him. And from certain very per-
plexing paintings still to be found in the Emilian
cities, it would seem as though they had worked
there together. An example of this possible colla-
boration is to be seen in the church of S. Prospero
at Reggio : ^. Homobonus giving A bus. It is a
remarkable work, full of power, yet at the same
time exhibiting deficiencies of technique, which are
positively grotesque. Frizzoni at first attributed the
painting to Bazzi himself: a belief which he after-
wards, on further reflection, thought fit to abjure.^
panel now in the collection of Herr Weber at Hamburg. It is a fine
and beautiful work ; darkened, however, by time and restoration. The
record of yet one more Lucretia is documentarily handed down to us :
namely, in the Inventory of pictures left in our artist's studio at his
death (cf. Appendix No. 31). From the fact that it appears in connec-
tion with a portrait of Pandolfo Petrucci (which would seem to have
been stored away for a long period), might we not suggest that this
Lucretia is the one now in the Kestner Museum : ordered by the tyrant
and never delivered? Further, we might even propose that by the
Leda, which precedes it in the list, is intended the so-called Charitas,
in the Berlin Gallery of which we have also made mention above.
^ There is in fact no existing evidence of an actual visit to Ferrara or
Mantua at all.
2 Frizzoni, Op. cit., p. 152, note. Venturi proposes to attribute it to
Bernardino Zacchetti, an obscure Reggian painter {L'Arte, Sept. Oct.
1901, fasc. ix., X.)
Photo: Brill kmanjt.
LUCRETIA.
KESTNER MUSEUM, HANOVER.
To/ace p. i66.
BAZZl IN THE EMILIA 167
But the fact that so eminent a critic entertained a
doubt regarding this work, shows the difficulties
which beset the student's path in attaining a satis-
factory and convincing conclusion. The painting
unquestionably displays very strongly a Sodom-
esque feeling, alike in composition and execution.
It is consequently not easy to divest our minds of
the idea that Bazzi exercised more than a merely
directing influence over the work. The figure of
the Saint himself, the landscape and the children
are so reminiscent of his methods, that one may
fairly hazard the theory that the painting was com-
menced by him, even if completed by Anselmi ;
by whom there are at least two more altarpieces
in this same church : a fine figure of ^. Patil, and
a Baptism of Christ}
Much discussion has moreover arisen over
the discovery by the late Marchese G. Campori ^
of two documents of even date (Nov. 22nd, 15 18),
wherein one ''Joanne Antonio de Baziis de
Parma, Pic tore, ad prcBsens habit at ore Regii,''
figures as a witness.^ Now if, as we have en-
^ In speaking of Anselmi it is also most noticeable how, in all his early
works in the Emilia, the influence of his first master strives to exist side
by side with the very different methods of Correggio, whose personality
eventually so entirely overwhelmed him. The fine Madonna and Saints
in the Communal Chapel of the Duomo at Parma, and the Christ bearing
His Cross in the Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista in the same city, are
characteristic examples of this mingling of ideals.
^ G. Campori, Catalogo Storico degli Artisti Italiani e Stranieri negli
Stati Estensi. Modena, 1855, p. 58. Cf. also Carlo Milanesi, Archivio
Storico Italiano, Nuova Serie, vol. ii. part i. p. 159. Firenze: Vieusseux,
1855-
' The attestation clause runs as follows : Actum Regii in Ecclesia
S. Jacobi prcedicti, presentibus ibidem Magistro Joanne Antonio de
Baziis de Parma, Pictore, ad prcesens habitatore Regii &> Bonfrancisco
i68 MIDDLE PERIOD
deavoured to show, Bazzi was still living in Siena
on the last day of December 1518, it is not possible
that he and the Giovannantonio de Baziis can be
one and the same person. Again, in spite of the
tricks he so often plays with his name and place of
residence, it seems difficult to believe that such a
freedom as a false attestation of domicile would have
been permitted in a document of this nature, either
by the authorities, or by the parties to the deeds :
apparently persons of some repute in their dis-
trict. We are not aware of any motive that should
prompt him to conceal his identity ; and it is scarcely
conceivable that, had any deception been attempted,
countenance would have been given to so puerile
a falsehood. De Basis, de Baziis, or Bazzi^ are,
after all, not such very uncommon names, and a
far more logical and likely hypothesis would sug-
gest the existence of two painters both Giovanni
Antonio by name rather than to force them, in
defiance of perplexing dates, into one entity.
Although Marchese Campori's discoveries do
not point conclusively to Bazzi's residence in
Parma, it is more than reasonable to suppose that
quondam de Pachionibus, Give Regii, Testibus, etc. Copied from
the Compendio delle Discendenze de' Fratelli Giovanni, Bonifazio e Farigio
de' Taccoli, ecc. Vedrotti, Reggio, 1741, p. 77.
^ Campori himself, quoting Pezzana {Storia di Parma, tom. iii.,
Appendix, p. 5) in note 3, on the page above mentioned, records a
certain Christoferus de Baziis (Baxijs in the Text, Bazi in the Index),
who was among the Parmesan citizens who swore fealty to Francesco
Sforza on March 7th, 1449 ; thus showing that the name was not unknown
there. Malaspina {Nuova Guida di Parma, 1869), in his Indice Alfabetico
di tutti gli artisti Parmensi, speaks of a painter named Giovanni Bazi,
who lived from 1494 to 1533. The family of Bazzi's own pupil, Lorenzo
Brazzi (il Rustico) were of those parts. See p. 241 post. Cf. also
Meyer, Op. cit.
BAZZI IN LOMBARDY 169
during those years our artist did travel in Northern
Italy, and sojourned there once more. Whether
he revisited his early home or relatives we are
at a loss to say, and such vague indications as
may be obtained, tend rather to a negative con-
clusion ; but a number of works by him, still
extant, most of which have been discovered in
churches and palaces in Lombardy and Piedmont,
would seem to point to a renewal of early im-
pressions, matured and broadened. It is hardly
necessary to repeat that paintings on panel and
canvas may be moved about ; but it seems un-
likely on the face of it that all the pictures assigned
with good reason to this period could have been
carried in a finished state from Tuscany to the
North. They possess, moreover, a marked style of
their own, differing entirely both from the earlier
and later Sienese work ; and are more reminiscent
of his great leader, Leonardo, into the society of
whose pupils and followers he would have been
once more thrown.
Morelli and his school would assign to him, and
place within this period of artistic activity, the
great fresco of the Madonna and Child (Madon-
none) in the Villa Melzi at Vaprio d' Adda. So
far, however, we cannot follow them. The fresco
is a very fine work ; but although it can hardly be
attributed to Leonardo himself,^ the composition
lacks the sweetness and tender grace of Bazzi. We
are tempted rather to assign the painting to that
talented, but as yet not fully understood, dilettante,
^ Cf, Edward McCurdy, Leonardo da Vinci. (Great Masters Series.)
George Bell & Sons, London, 1904.
I70 MIDDLE PERIOD
Francesco Melzi, who is much more likely to have
thus closely copied his friend's style for the adorn-
ment of his family villa. To bring Bazzi thither
appears not unlike forcing probabilities.
The most noticeable work of this period, how-
ever, is the exquisite Madonna and Child ( ?) be-
longing to the Ginoulhiac family. A strangely
beautiful production, it stands so much apart
among the paintings of the master, that doubts
have been cast upon its authenticity. But if we
endeavour to comprehend the obvious circum-
stance, that the Mother and Child are likenesses,
and are intended to be viewed as such, we are
able to perceive the subtle and lifelike charm that
pervades the composition. The picture, more-
over, bears a strong resemblance^ to the famous
Frankfurt portrait to which we have alluded earlier
in these pages ; and abundantly proves our artist's
claim to rank as a most able painter of portraits.
^ The following pictures bear also a close affinity to this work : A
Madonna and Child (No. 60) in the Morelli Gallery at Bergamo, and
another representation of the same subject in the Palazzo Bianco at
Genoa. The long slim hand and the sleeve with the frill at the wrist
are favourite characteristics of Bazzi in these and several other paintings
of this period.
Photo: Marcozzi.
MADONNA AND CHILD.
GINOULHIAC COLLECTION, MILAN,
To face J>. 170.
CHAPTER VIII
FAME AND FORTUNE
The year 1525 witnessed Bazzi's return to Siena
once more.
And now commences that extensive series of
paintings for the several churches and public
buildings, through which he is best known to
fame. Scant information is available concerning
his private life ; but such indications as have come
down to us point to his having occupied in spite
of differences with his employers over work done
or left undone a position in the city of his adop-
tion, of considerable honour and respect.
A wave of unrest had swept over Siena ; and
our artist returned thither at the moment when the
NovE and the Libertini^ were at the height of
their intestine struggles. Civic discord did not,
however, act as a check to artistic commissions.
Milanesi^ states that the painted bier mentioned
by Vasari for the Compagnia della SS. Trinity
was commenced in this year ; but from certain
memoranda among his MS.^ it would seem that
^ Langton Douglas, Op. cit., p. 216 ^ seg.
^ Vasari, Op. cit., p. 393, note 3.
2 Milanesi MSS., Biblioteca Comunale, Siena, P. III. 49, p. 170*-
" Nella sagrestia di S. Donato i il cataletto che gid, fu della Confraternita
della SS. Trinitd'' {Beccafumi). p. 197. " II cataletto della SS. Trinitd,
era finito di dipingere nel Maggio del 1528." (Archivio di Stato
DI Siena. Archivio del Patrimonio Ecclesiastico. Compagnia della SS.
Trinity. Reg. T. No. 15, a. c. 73.)
171
172 FAME AND FORTUNE
the work was not finished until May 1528; and
was then, in fact, completed by Beccafumi. The
four panels are now preserved in the sacristy of
the church of S. Michele (formerly S. Donato : the
Abbadia Nuovd)\ and the authorship of the several
portions is clearly evident. The Madonna delle
Mercede^ and the Pietci are, it is true, not fine
specimens of Bazzi's craft, but there can be no
doubt that they are his handiwork ; whereas the
two panels representing the Trinity (one of which
is however better drawn than the other) are inferior,
and may be profitably compared with another
example of the same subject by Beccafumi, in the
Siena Academy (Room IX. No. 384).
It was on May 3rd of this year that Bazzi
covenanted to paint what is perhaps, all things
considered, his masterpiece, the Banner destined
for the Compagnia di S. Sebastiano in Camollia.
References to various sums of money paid on
account for this work are frequent in the Books of
the Confraternity;^ but the entries are extremely
^ A drawing for this subject is to be found in the Imperial Collection
in Vienna. Bazzi, like Raphael before him, seems to have employed
male models, perhaps his own garzone, for female figures.
* Archivio detto. Libro d' Entrata e Uscita della Compagnia di
S. Sebastiano. Reg. C. I. a. c. 38'-
Archivio detto. Archivio del Fatrimonio dei Resti. S. Sebastiano in
Camollia, No. 1626, f. 65. " A di 20 di mago 1525 raunatti e fratelli ne
la compagnia i' numero di 32 col priore, si levb u' de fratelli coe prima el
priore e dise, al nome di Dio e di San Bastiano di Sa Gusmondo e Rocho
e dise che uno de' nostri fratelli arebe disidero si facesi u' ghonfalone per
adare a procisione e darebe tre ducatti e de' licenza a ognuno cosegliasi,
si levo Quirico deto el Picino e dise, al nome di Dio e di sa' Bastiano e
Rocho e Gismondo deti era Antognio barbiere quelo vol dare e tre
ducatti e no' pottendo stasera qua venire ed a sua parte eferischo e deti
3 ducati, ando a partitto se si doveva fare e' deto ghonfalone, furo tutto
bianchi, furo chiamati nuove operai avesero a fare el deto ghonfalone e
THE -S. SEBASTIAN" BANNER 173
confusing, and apparently overlap in more than
one instance. The painter was evidently in no
hurry, since the final payments were not made
until November 6th, 1531 ; and even then, we are
told by Romagnoli,^ the banner was at last com-
pleted by Beccafumi. What share Beccafumi
actually had in this collaboration we know not ;
at all events it was an inconsiderable one. The
figure of the patron Saint (one of the best known
and most beautiful creations of Renaissance Art),
the landscape background, and some portions at
least of the reverse side, are most characteristic of
our painter's genius. A well-known writer^ has
described the work admirably as follows :
Gifted with an exquisite feeling for the beauty of the
human body, Sodoma excelled himself when he was
deti nove ne remanghi tre n' avesse per piu lupini Antognio di . . .
barbiere e Quiricho deto Picino bechaio e Bernardino di Piero Marcini
che facesino deto ghonfalone e pesi bene e se ne sera buo' coto reso per
ordine si perda una polissa dove erano scritte per ordine fu tolta."
^ Romagnoli, Op. cit. " Prima di fame una piii dettagliata descrizione
voglio far note al mio lettore, che per un documento da me ritrovato
neir Archivio del Patrimonio de' resti apprendo, che questo stendardo
fii incominciato dal Kazzi (V), e terminate dal Beccafumi. Nel citato
archivio ove stanno i libri attinenti ai locaU aboliti dal G. D. Pietro
Leopold, lessi tralle deliberazioni della compagnia di S. Sebastiano in
CauioUia, che questo Gonfalone nel 1525 : non essendo intieramente
terminate dal Razzi, furono proposti varij artisti per finirlo giach^ 1' autore
non voile piu porvi la mano. Lessi in una cartapecora " [a search for
this document has proved fruitless] " la deliberazione nella quale si
eleggono tre deputati in Girolamo di Tomasso, Lorenzo di Francesco
Corti, e Pierantonio detto lo Sbada, aflSnche facciano terminare quest'
opera al Beccafumi come fecero."
The following note from Milanesi's MSB. before mentioned seems to
refer to the same thing, but no corroborative evidence is to be found
elsewhere (p. 169*) : Nel 1523 ^'' terniino il Beccafumi lo stendardo di
S. Bastiano lasciato ijnperfetto dal Beccafumi " (sic).
^ John Addington Symonds, The Renaissance in Italy : The Fine
Arts. London, 1877. PP- Soo'Soi-
174 FAME AND FORTUNE
contented with a single figure. His 5. Sebastian, not-
withstanding its wan and faded colouring, is still the
very best that has been painted. Suffering, refined and
spiritual, without contortion or spasm, could not be pre-
sented with more pathos in a form of more surpassing
loveliness. This is a truly demonic picture in the fascina-
tion it exercises and the memory it leaves upon the mind.
Part of its unanalysable charm may be due to the bold
thought of combining the beauty of a Greek Hylas with
the Christian sentiment of martyrdom. Only the Renais-
sance could have produced a hybrid so successful, because
so deeply felt.
To US the *' wan and faded colouring " is one of
the great charms of the composition ; but the
awkwardly posed angel bearing the Martyr's crown
is a distinct blot.^ On the reverse of the standard
the Madonna and Child dst poised in the air above
a kneeling group : SS. Roch and Sigismund,
together with several members of the Confraternity
of Flagellants. The worshippers below are well
grouped, though another hand has touched the
clouds upon which the Madonna is seated ; whilst
her effigy ^ and that of her Divine Son are inferior
to the rest of the work. This may in fact be the
portion compleledhy Beccafumi, the recluse; whose
artistic temperament and training would have
paralysed any endeavour or desire to rival the
achievement of his great competitor. We read that
^ Berenson {Drawings of the Florentine Painters cit., p. 163) states
that Bazzi, in creating his S. Sebastian, must have known a drawing for
this same subject by Leonardo, now belonging to M. Leon Bonnat, of
Paris ; since both present the same action and expression.
2 It is curious that Mr. Langton Douglas {Op. cit., pp. 403-4) should
perceive a resemblance between the features of this Madonna and those
of one of Bazzi's most beautiful presentments of the Holy Mother : viz.
that over the altar of the chapel in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena.
Photo: Anderson.
S. SEBASTIAN.
UFFIZI, FLORENCE.
To /ace p. 174.
THE CHAPEL OF S. CATHERINE 175
the sum agreed upon to be paid to the artist for this
work was 20 ducats, of 7 lire to the ducat ; but
that this sum not being found sufficient, another
10 ducats were added. We are, moreover, told by
Vasari himself, that a number of merchants from
Lucca there and then offered 300 gold scudi for the
banner ; despite which the Confraternity refused
to part with their highly prized possession. The
standard was, however, eventually purchased from
them in 1786 ^ for 200 zecchini by the Grand Duke
of Tuscany for his collection at the Uffizi, where it is
exhibited to this day (Smaller Tuscan Room, on an
easel).
The following year was marked by the inception
of a scarcely less celebrated undertaking this time
in fresco i.e., the decoration of the Chapel of S.
Catherine in the Church of S. Domenico at Siena.
In spite of the admiration bestowed upon this work
from the earliest times onwards, little or no record
remains concerning its origin.
The history of the Chapel is an interesting one,
and a few words concerning it may not be out of
place here.
In the vault below lie the bodies of the two
celebrated physicians,^ Marco, son of Giovanni
^ Delia Valle {Op. cit., p. 266) tells us that the Sienese and Florentines