loAO.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



81 



of the Academy of St. Luke attending the ceremony, as a tribute 

 of respect to his memory. 



Ignazio Danti (to whom we are indebted for a Memoir of the 

 Life of Barozzi) makes most honourable mention of his noble and 

 generous disposition. His constant desire was not to be burdened 

 with the cares of superfluity, or the miseries of want: his numerous 

 charities prevented the former, and his talents and the extensive 

 patronage he enjoyed rendered him exempt from the latter. His 

 life was most virtuous! his love of truth proverbial! his manner 

 cheerful and engaging! his accomplishments refined! He died 

 poor, leaving no other inheritance to his son Hyacinth (observes 

 Quatremere de Quincy) "than the example of bis virtues and the 

 reputation of his name!" 



Milizia states that Giacomo della Porta studied under Vignola, 

 and Bonanni styles him as discipulus ejus; he succeeded him as 

 architect to St. Peter's, and also designed and executed the several 

 churches and other important works in Rome. 



I regret that I am unable to give the date when Vignola produced 

 his celebrated Treatise upon Architecture. Daviler and Milizia 

 both state that it was towards the latter end of his life, and this 

 is in some measure confirmed by Vignola himself, who, in the fol- 

 lowing passage from his modest and unpretending preface says, 

 "that having for many years practised as an architect in various 

 parts, having studied the writings of several authors upon archi- 

 tecture, and having compared them together and with the works 

 of antiquity then still remaining, he was desirous of establishing 

 a rule upon which he might rely with security, and which might, 

 upon the whole, or in part, please the judicious." 



Of a treatise so well known to architects it will be unnecessary 

 for me to offer any description, it being sufficient to observe that 

 its merits have now been tested for more than three centuries; 

 that of the parallels, which have been made of the orders with 

 those of such powerful rivals as Serlio, Scamozzi and Palladio, I 

 think the balance will be found in Vignola's favour, notwithstanding 

 the opinion of so great a critic as Milizia, who places the great 

 architects of the sixteenth century in the following gradation: — 



"For knowledge and exquisite taste possessed by each in archi- 

 tecture, it appears that the first place would belong to Palladio! on 

 his right hand would be Vignola, Buonarotti, Sansovino, and 

 Vasari, and on the other Peruzzi, San Michele, Giulio Romano, 

 and Serlio." 



Vignola's Treatise upon Perspective was not published till after 

 his death; his son Giacinto placed it in the hands of Ignazio Danti, 

 a Dominican friar and mathematician of Bologna. Danti has well 

 fulfilled his task of compilation, and has produced a work upon a 

 subject, which was more carefully studied by the old Italian archi- 

 tects than by their successors. Both Vitruvius and Peruzzi, as well 

 as Vignola, recommended its study as one of the means towards 

 arriving at perfection in the art. The words of Vignola are " La 

 Scienza del/a prospettiva gli aveva ajierto I'ingegno per I'lirte difuhbri- 

 care" and I would here venture a remark to the students of the 

 Institute upon the great importance of a sound knowledge of per- 

 spective for the proper study and practice of their profession. It 

 would not be difficult to point out in several important buildings, 

 instances of failure of architectural effect, arising from the designs 

 having been merely studied geometrically. 



Upon the principle so well laid down by Milizia, " That the best 

 method of praising able artists is by making known their works," 

 I will now proceed with a few remarks upon the executed works 

 of Vignola at Rome, commencing with the little church of San 

 Andrea a Ponte MoUe, on the Via Flaminia. 



The building was erected by Julius III., in commemoration of 

 his escape on St. Andrew's day^ 1527, from the German soldiery 

 during the sack of Rome, and among the various inscriptions in the 

 adjoining Villa Papa Giulio, Boissard gives the following as con- 

 nected with this church. " In the neighbouring temple let thanks 

 be given to God and St. Andrew, and let them (the visitors) pray 

 for abundant health and eternal life to Julius III., Pontifex Maxi- 

 mus, to Baldwin his brother, and to their whole family. 



This church is of a rectangular plan, of veiy moderate dimen- 

 sions, and is chiefly remarkable for its resemblance in general 

 exterior character to some of the small Roman temples. There is 

 a great charm and beauty in the simplicity of the design, and the 

 elegant details all bespeak the most careful study. Milizia, in his 

 brusque way has some smart criticisms upon it, acknowledging at 

 the same time that it was a work generally praised! 



In the immediate vicinity of the Church of S. Andrea is situate 

 the Villa Papa Giulio, commenced in 1550, by order of Julius III. 

 I will not occupy the time of this meeting by a description of this 

 building, with which, probably, nearly all present are familiar, 



either with the building itself or the charming illustrations of it by 

 Percier and Fontaine. I cannot, however, resist the observation, 

 that for the harmonious arrangement of the plan, for its style and 

 character, for the refinement and delicacy of the enrichments, it is 

 a model of suburban architecture. Ammanati in his fountains and 

 ninfeo, and Zucchero in his beautiful paintings of the porticoes, 

 have contributed much to its effect, but it is to the master-hand of 

 Vignola, which guided and directed the whole, that we must award 

 the palm ! 



My friend, Mr. James Morant Lockyer, who has with great cre- 

 dit given much attention to the study of numismatics, more parti- 

 cularly in reference to architectural representations upon medals, 

 has kindly lent me a medal of Julius III., engraved both in Stern's 

 and Letarouilly's works, upon which the Villa Papa Giulio is shown 

 with two small cupolas surmounting the circular staircase and cor- 

 responding wing building. Tlie effect in the medal is so successful, 

 that I am induced to %vish these lateral cupolas had been intro- 

 duced in the building itself. 



Near to the Villa Papa Giulio is the Vigna Giulia, and from 

 their close vicinity and the resemblance in the names, the one 

 building has sometimes been taken for the other in the works of 

 Vasari and other authors. I am inclined to think the hand of 

 Vignola may be traced on this latter building; it is an extremely 

 picturesque composition and quite worthy of him. Letarouilly has 

 treated this subject in his usual perfect manner, and he ascribes 

 the design to Sansovino and Peruzzi. Giorgio Vasari states, that 

 he himself was the first who designed it, adding rather indignantly, 

 " that he was not one of those who made designs to please the 

 capricious fancy of the pope, and which were afterwards obliged 

 to be corrected by Michael Angelo and Vignola." From this pas- 

 sage it would almost appear, that Barozzi was really concerned in 

 the design, but I have no doubt so careful an author as Leta- 

 rouilly has good reasons for attributing the work to Sansovino and 

 Peruzzi, and I am only doing justice to those two great architects 

 in observing that the work in question is, at all events, worthy of 

 Vignola. The Villa Lanti at Bagnaia, near to Viterbo, has also 

 been ascribed to Vignola; it resembles his style, but it is not suffi- 

 ciently refined and pure for that master. 



At the Palazzo Farnese, Vignola executed that magnificent 

 apartment so well known as the Caracci Gallery, with a portion of 

 the Cortile, together with the decorations of several doors and 

 windows, the most satisfactory details of which will be found in 

 Letarouilly, who has also given as the works of Vignola, the lateral 

 porticoes or loggie on the Capitol, the small Palazzo Spada in the 

 Via di Capo di ferro, the Palazzo Nari, and a small palace at the 

 extremity of the Piazza Navona. ^Ve have also the celebrated 

 doorway of San Lorenzo in Damaso. 



In reference to the entrance to the Farnese Gardens at Rome, I 

 will again refer to the useful work on Doorways by Professor 

 Donaldson, " It is useful, however, to consider whether this is an 

 example to be entirely followed without reserve; certainly not; — 

 but there are so few blemishes to remark, that it may appear 

 almost unnecessary to notice them. It must be allowed, however, 

 that the columns require being elevated above the level of the 

 ground by a plinth. The rustications of the columns may be some- 

 what objected to as not sffiuciently pure, but the harmony of the 

 whole composition would have been destroyed had they been with- 

 out; the attic is not sufficiently high, its proper proportions would 

 have been to have equalled the entablature in height, this would 

 have raised the plinth more above the cornice, and prevented its 

 being intercepted by the projection of the latter. Some subsequent 

 architect, with a taste as profane as it was daring, has introduced 

 above this Capo d'Opera of Vignola, an attic, with caryatides, dete- 

 riorating materially its effect, and causing the deformity to be 

 attributed to our great architect." 



Now Milizia, who is genei-ally not very sparing in his censure, is 

 not quite so indignant as the writer whom I have just quoted, with 

 respect to this " profane addition;'' he merely says, " Ma I'attico 

 coH quelle cariatidi e troppo graiide," and upon referring to my own 

 rough notes, I find that 1 was innocent enough to treat it as one 

 design. Many, however, I dare say, will consider that the author 

 of the work on Doorways has, in this instance, proved himself the 

 best critic of the three, and that the addition must conseqently be 

 condemned as — 



*' A blot that will be still a blot, in spite 

 or all that grave apolugists may write." 



At the death of Michael Angelo in 1564, Vignola, in conjunction 

 with Pirro Ligorio, was elected as his successor as architect to St. 

 Peter's, with the strictest injunctions from Pius IV. not in any way 

 to alter the design made by Michael Angelo. Vignola's coadjutor, 



12 



