TTALIAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



preference to all' there, he adopted the (lyle of Fred. Bar- 

 roccio. We have four fmall etchings by him : tiie Ipirit, 

 beauty, and correftnefs of drawing that appear in thofe 

 prints, makes it to be regretted that he etchjd fo little. 

 The fiibjefts of thefe etchings are as follow : " The Vir- 

 gin contemplating the fleeping Chrift ;" " St. Catherine of 

 Sienna receivin;; the ftigmata, or Brand;" " St. Francis 

 recriving the Stigmata ;" and " The Ext,itic Vifion of St. 

 Francis," the faint is a half figure, and ai; angel appears 

 above playing on the violin. Huber fays that the beauty 

 which is difcoverable in tliis print cannot be too much ad- 

 mired. AgolHno Caracci engraved from the fame defign, 

 with fome variations. 



Giovanni Maggi, or Magius, was born at Rome in the 

 year i jfi6, and is better known as an engraver than as a 

 painter ; we have by him many (light etchings, which are 

 not worthy of any very great commendation. In 1618, 

 he pubhflied a colleftion of all the principal fountains in 

 Rome, which he engraved in conjundion with Domcnico 

 Parafachi. He undertook to engrave, on a very large fcale, 

 the plan of Rome, with all the ilreets and principal biiild- 

 . ings, &c. but wanting money, the enterpri/.e was never 

 performed by him. We have by him, the portrait of a 

 cardinal, as large as life ; a landfcape, with figures, ruins, 

 &c. infcribed " J. Mains, v. et fee. ijgj ;" and " Fignra 

 della Vita Humana, Joh. Maius fee. 1600," in large folio. 

 Fr^ncefco Villamcna was born at Aflifll, a city of Italy, 

 in 1566, and died at Rome in 1626 He went to Rome 

 under the pontificate of pope Sixtus V. and itudiedtlie bell 

 piftures and ilatues there. He ftndicd engraving under 

 Cornelius Cort and his fcholar AgoiHno Caracci, with 

 whom he was contemporary. Villamena drew with con- 

 fiderabie ability ; he engraved in a bold open ftyle, and pro- 

 duced a clear but not powerful effetl ; his lights, though 

 broad, are too much fpread over the whole engravine, which 

 makes his prints appear unfmiihed. But iliis defeft was 

 com.mon to the artills of that age, and thefe faults in the 

 prints of Villamena, are amply compenlated by the beauties 

 with which they abound, particularly with regard to the 

 expreffion of the heads, and the excellency of the drawing. 

 Tlie extremities of his figures are alfo very finely marked. 

 Some of the engravings of this artifl are performed almoil 

 entirely with fingle ilrokes, without any crofs hatchings 

 laid over them ; and it was perhaps from them that Mellan 

 originally took the hint, which afterwards became the 

 marked peculiarity of his ftyle. The number of Villamena's 

 prints is very confiderable : M. Mariette mentions three 

 hundred and fixty ; and he marked them either with his 

 iiame, initials, or monograms, which will be found in our 

 PLiie II. of thofe of the Jtal'inn School, we (liall mention the 

 following, from his own defigns ; a portrait of cardinal 

 Csfar Baronius Soranus, in folio ; and four other portraits 

 of men of rank ; " St. Therefia in her Cell writing, under 

 the Infpiration of the Holy Gholl," in folio ; " Mary 

 Magdalen penitent in the Defert, crowned by an Angel," 

 if) 4to. ; " St. Francis praying before a Crucifix," in folio; 

 a fet of fix grotefque little figures, one of which is a beggar, 

 accompanied by two children ; a fet of five faints, three of 

 which are from his own defign, and the two others from 

 Ferrau Franzoni, in fmall folio ; " St. James, appearing in 

 the Air, to the Army of Ferdinand," a very grand com- 

 pofition ; " A Mnn, angered by a Crowd of People, fight- 

 ilig in his own Defence ;" a large prim lengthways, com- 

 monly called The Boxers ; a middling-fized plate, in which 

 is reprefeiited John Alto, the antiquary, (landing in one of 

 the ftreets of Rome. The following prints are 

 ' From ■various other Majli,ri.—*' Mofts exalting the Brazen 



Serpent," from Ferrau Franzoni ; " A Holy Family, wiA- 

 St. John, Ehzabeth, and St. Ann," a middling-fized upriglkt 

 plate from Raphael, dated 1602. Villamena repeated tliis 

 fubjcct, and dated the fecond print 161 1. " The Salutation 

 of tlie Virgin," a large upright plate, from M. Arconio*; 

 " Tlie Virgin and Intant Jefus worfliijjped by St. Franci.s;" 

 " St. Bruno, with his Companions, doing Penance in the 

 Defert," a large plate lengliuvays from Lanfranco; " Chrill 

 taken from the Crofs ;" a large folio plate, arched at the 

 top, from Baroccio ; another " Annunciation of the 

 Virgin," a grand conipofition from Hipp. Andrcafius, in 

 large folio; " The Prefentation in the Temple ;" a mid- 

 licg-fized plate lengthways, from Paulo Veronefe ; " Sf. 

 Bernard, and the Virgin in the Clouds," after F. Vanni ; 

 " Alexander at the Batt'e of Arbolla," from Ant. Tem- 

 pefta ; a large plate, lengthways, reprefenting '• Hercules 

 holdiug-the Globe, with the armorial bearings of Cardinal Ar- 

 rigoi.i," from Aibano ; another fubjedl of tlie fame kind wuli 

 the arms of Cardinal Barbcrlni ; the fame fubji-dl with the arms 

 of Spain, all which arc of large folio dimeaSous ; the bible 

 of Raphael in twenty plates, fifteen from the Old Teftamcnt, 

 and five from the New, intitled " La facra Genefi figurata. 

 da Rafaele, iutagliala da Francefco Villamcna, .dedicata al 

 Cardinal Aldobrandino, Rom. 1626." 



Leo.nardo Norfini, who afl'umed the name of Parafole, 

 from its being the family name of his wife, was born at 

 Rome in the year 13:70, and died in the fame city, at the 

 age of fixty. He was an engraver on wood of fome merit, 

 and was much employed by A. Tempefta. At the com- 

 mand of pope Sixtus V. he engraved the plants, &c. for 

 the herbal of Caftor Durante, the pliyfician of that pontiff. 



The figures in Norfini's engravings, after Tempella, are 

 correclly drawn, and executed in a finillied ftyle, for that 

 mode of art. 



His fon, Bernadino Norfini, lik^wife engraved on wood ; 

 he frequented the fcliool of Jofephine, and began to make 

 fom; progrefs in painting, when he died at an early age. 



Ifabella Parafole, the v.ife of Leonardo, was a v\oman of 

 great ingenuity, and compofed a book of patterns for lace- 

 and embroidery, of tiie prints in which Ihe engraved on wood. 

 She likewife did a great number of plants for a herbal of 

 prince Cefi of Aquafparta. 



Jrrminica Parafole, a lady of the fame family, equally 

 dillinguifhed herfelf by engraving on wood ; and there is by 

 her hand a large print of " The Battle of the Centaurs," 

 from A. Tempella ; it is coarfely executed, though with 

 much fpirit ; but the drawing is not correft. 



Odoard, or Edward Fialetti, was born at Bologna A.D. 

 1573, and died at Venice in 1638. He learned the rudi- 

 ments of deiign of J. B. Cremonini, but afterwards travelled 

 to Venice, and finiihed his (Indies in the fchool of Tinto- 

 retto. He was an hillorical painter as well as engraver, 

 and his works in both arts are fpoken of with the warmelt 

 commendation ; Bofchini mentions thirty-eight pictures by 

 Fialetti, which he painted for churches and other public 

 buildings in Venice. He etched a great number of plates 

 as well from his own defigns, as from thofe of other artills. 

 His etcliings are execued in a (light, but malterly ftyle. 

 He drew correctly, frequently lelefled or invented vory 

 graceful attitudes, and compofed his figures with muchtafte. 

 If he had left no other telUmony of his merit tlian his prints, 

 they would have been iufficient to prove that he was a man 

 of very great abihty. He generally marked his prints witli 

 a cypher, which will be found in our Plate II. of thole of 

 the Iialiiin School. We fliall mention the following pcoduc- 

 tions of his graver, as well worthy of the notice of the con- 

 noifleur. A long frieze feom his own compofition of tritons, 



firens. 



