GIU'LIO ROMA'NO, or GIULIO PIPPI, was born at Rome in 1492, and at an early age it was his good fortune to become the scholar of Raffaelle, of whom ho was the favourite pupil, and whose successor be may justly be considered. lie assisted that great master in very many of his work'', particularly in the celebrated Battle of Constan tine,' and other frescoes in the game of the Vatican, where be sews to have wrought with a congenial spirit, and to have been inspired by the conceptions of his instructor and guide. So great was the attach ment of Raffaelle to him, that at his death he made Giulio his chief heir, and further directed that all his unfinished works should be completed by him. Ilia name therefore is in some manner linked with that of the greatest of modern painters. From him too Chao imbibed a taste for architecture, in which art his proficiency was such that it was as much in the capacity of architect and engineer as that of painter that ho was, after the death of Raffaelle, invited by Frederic Gonzaga to Mantua, for the purpose of conducting the various works which that prinoe had projected for the Improvement and embellish ment of his oapital. At Rome he had already erected several buildings remarkable for their taste, including the Villa Madams, the Villa Lante, and the two small palazzi, Alberini and Cenci, the casino belonging to the first-mentioned of which has always been greatly admired by artists for the invention and classical elegance shown in its arabesques and other decorations.
Arrived at Mantua, be found an ample and varied field open to his talents, being called upon to exercise them on works of the most opposite character, from those whose merit lay in scientific skill and construction to those which afforded him an opportunity of displaying his fancy in their elaborate embellishment. Among the former were those for draining the marshes, and securing the city from the inun dations of the l'o and Mincio ; and among the latter, the decorations and spectacles got up on the occasion of the emperor Charles V.'s visit to Mantua. But that of the greatest note was the palace called the Te, of which he was not only the architect, but adorned the apart ments with a variety of admirable stuccoes and paintings executed by himself and his pupils. The building itself indeed is rather plain externally, being a simple square of about ]90 feet, and of rather low proportions, as it consists of only a single order (Doric), comprising two ranges of windows, the upper one of which is a mezzanine. The whole is sufficiently sober, for the windows are without dressings; neither is there any other embellishment besides the order itself and the rusticated surface of the walls. The simplicity which reigns throughout is increased by the entablature being carried quite unbroken along the whole extent of front, which it terminates, there being neither attic nor balustrade above it. Yet if in respect to its exterior this edifico does not offer much for description, it would require a volume to enumerate and explain all the various decorations of the interior—the profusion of stuccoes, friezes, and frescoes, with which the different apartments are adorned. One of the most remark
able is that named the Sala de' Giganti, the walls being entirely covered with figures representing the defeat of the Titans—a subject treated by him with such astonishing energy that Giulio has here shown him self equal to the style of Michel Angelo ; while in the series repre senting the history of Psyche he has emulated Raffaelle, though be falli far short of him in delicacy and refinement. Unfortunately, both these works have been so retouched and repaired that they now exhibit very little of the original execution, and therefore show only their design and composition, and the poetical genius of their author, which, according to Reynolds, he possessed in a higher degree than any other artist before or since. Even the embellishment of this palace alone would appear to have been nearly the work of an entire lifetime; and such iudeed it must have proved had not Giulio con tented himself with giving his designs and cartoons to be copied by his pupils, which being done, it was his practice to go over the whole of each painting, correcting it and finishing it up until he had stamped it with the character of his own pencil.
Besides the edifices already mentioned, be restored or embellished various churches at Mantua, and especially the cathedral, which, although oomparatively seldom spoken of, is one of the finest build ings of its kind in Italy. Giulio however did not live to see it finished, but it was completed after his death by his pupil Bertano. He died in 1546, as he was on the point of quitting Mantua; for notwith standing the high repute and favour he enjoyed there, his ambition tempted him to accept the offer of succeeding Sansovino as the architect of St. Peter's, although be had previously refused the pressing instances of Francis I., who was anxious to engage him in his service.
As a painter Giulio was by no means so happy in colouring as in design and invention, which, if occasionally rather forced and extrava gant, were for the most part highly noble. He chiefly excelled in mythological subjects, nor was he always very scrupulous in treating them, many being exceptionable on account of their voluptuousness. Indeed it is said that his chief inducement at first for removing to Mantua was to abscond from Rome, where he was implicated In an affair that will ever be a blot in his character; it being reported that be bad furnished the engraver Mark Antonio Raimoudi with a series of obscene drawings for as many sonnets of Aretino. Raimondi was thrown into prison ; and, had he remained at Rome, Giulio would in all probability have shared the same fate, and not undeservedly.
While at Mantua be formed a sort of school, the most eminent scholars of which were Primaticcio and Rinaldo Mantovano.