It remains now only to mention the distinguished painters of the Venetian state, In the 18th century, not already noticed. Antonio Zifrondi of Bergamo, a painter of remarkable facility of execution ; and of the same place, Fm Vittore Ghirlandi and Bartolomeo Nazzari, were both excellent portrait painters. In Brescia, Avogadro Brea ciano was distinguished for rich colour, elegant composition, and good drawing ; likewise Andrea Toresani, but he practised more in Venice and Milan than in Brescia : he was distinguished for landscapes and marine pieces, which he embellished with figures and animals painted in excellent taste. Simone Brentana, though a native of Venice, was domiciliated at Verona, and painted many excellent works there. Of Verona also was Antonio Balestra, who studied at Venice, at Bologna, and at Rome with Carlo Maratta : he painted less in the Venetian taste than in the Bolognese and Roman ; he drew well, composed with judgment, and executed many excellent works : Gio. 13attista Merlotti, Giuseppe Nogari, and Pietro Longhi, Venetians, were his scholars. The first was a good imitator of his style ; the second excelled as a portrait painter, but painted also some historical pieces; the third was distinguished for masks, conversations, and landscapes. Carlo Sails of Verona, and Cavalcabo of Hovered°, both painters of great merit, were likewise the scholars of Balestra; and also another Veronese painter, one of the best of the IStli century, Il Couto Pietro Rotari : he excelled in every department of painting except colouring, yet in this respect he was harmonious; his colouring was ashy and melancholy ; he died at St. Petersburg in 1762, painter to the empress Catherine 11. of Russia. The list of the distinguished painters of Verona was Gio. Bettino Cignaroli, likewise instructed by Balestra : he drew also in the style of Maratta; his masterpiece is perhaps the Flight into Egypt, at St. Antonio Abate at Parma : he died in 1770. The emperor Joseph II. is reported to have said, that he had beheld two very rare things in Verona—the amphitheatre, and the first painter of Europe.
Santo Prunati of Verona, contemporary with Balestra at Verona, was also a good painter; and there was a Pietro Uberti at Venice, an excellent portrait painter. A very distinguished painter also of this period at Venice, though of a different class, was Antonio Canaletto, known throughout Europe for his views in Venice, and other cities in and out of Italy.
Roman School.—That style of art which was eventually formed, or prevailed, at Rome during the golden age of painting, in the beginning of the 16th century, Is termed the Roman school, whether it was practised by subjects of the papal government, natives of the city of Rome, or strangers resident there. The simple fact however, of having practised the art of painting in Rome, does not constitute a disciple of that schooL The works of llaffaelle exhibit this style in its full development or most perfect form, and he is accordingly the head or repreaentative of the Rosman school.
In retracing the progress of the Roman school, we must go back to that original school of Italian painting, which flourished in the 14th cen• tury in various cities of the Roman states, within the limits of ancient Umbria,—in Gubbio, Fabriano, 31aselina, Borg() S. Sepolcro, Urbino, Assisi, and other places,—and thence termed the Umbrian school.
Oalerigi of Gubbio, one of the old practitioners of oniesaipainting, an art which was never quite extinct in Italy, seems to be the most ancient painter of this school whose period is ascertained with any degree of certainty; he died about aaa 1300. Oderigi appears to have
been an active reviver of painting, and ho was a man of reputation in his day. Ho in mentioned honourably by Dante, who terms him " L'onor d' o l'onor di quell' arte." There is mention also of three other ancient painters of Gubbio : Cecco and Puccio, who were employed in 1321 in painting the dome of Orvieto ; and Guido Palmerucci, who was employed about 1321, in the town-hall of his native city.
A still more important name in the early history of the Roman school is that of Pietro Cavallini, who is said to have received instruction from Giotto while at Rome. A Crucifixion by this master, still extant at Assisi, is a remarkable production. The return of the papal government from Avignon to Rome gave a new impulse to the arts; the most skilful artists were sought throughout Italy to decorate the temples and palaces of the luxurious pontiffs of Rome. Of these the principal were Ottaviano 3Iartis, and Gentile da Fabriano, a master of much greater merits. Fabriano was surnamed 3Iagister Magistrorum, and practised his art in many parts of Italy. In 1417 we find him engaged at Orvieto; he resided afterwards at Venice, where he obtained the rank of patrician, and was the master of Giacopo Bellini, whose sons were the founders of the Venetian school. His style, which by Michel Angelo was pronounced to be, hie his name, " Gentile," somewhat resembled that of Fra Angelico da Fiesole, though it was much inferior to it.
Piero della Francesca, or Piero Borghese, advanced the art still further; he was reckoned one of the best geometricians of his time, and was the first Italian who had any knowledge of the principles of perspective. He introduced immense improvements in the manage ment of draperies, and also greatly enlarged the manner of treating the naked figure. Bramante studied the works of Piero, who was fond of introducing architectural backgrounds in his pictures, which be executed in tolerable perspective. Additional improvements were made by Bartolomeo Corradini of Urbino, called Fra Carnevale, who gave great character to his heads, and was the first to introduce por traits into historical compositions, in which practice he was afterwards followed by Raffaelle, who paid great attention to the works of this painter at the commencement of his career.
Niccolo Alunno of Foligno and Benedetto Bonfigli complete the list of the considerable artists of this school previous to and contem porary with Pietro Perugino, the master of Raffaelle, and Giovanni Sanzio of Urbino, his father. Although, through the united efforts of the above masters, painting had attained to many high and pleasing qualities, true taste in design may be said to have totally failed them. They had not yet discovered what was beautiful and what was not, or what belonged to the individual and what to the class. Their art was not truly imitative, nor does it seem that an appearance of reality was an object with these painters ; they seem to have considered that their end was sufficiently accomplished in an intelligible indication of whatever they represented. The deficiency of this school could only be supplied through the study of the antique, and to supply it in a great degree was a distinction which fell to the lot of /Amami°, who must be looked upon as the leader of the great painters of the 15th century, or the Quatrocentisti, as the Italians have termed them, among whose works we first perceive any distinctive characteristics of style.