Francesco Cavazzoni. [Writings on Art. Part One: Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawing]. Edited by Marinella Pigozzi

Review by Giovanni Mazzaferro

Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
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Francesco Cavazzoni
Scritti d’arte
Parte Prima. L’Essemplario della nobile arte del disegno
[Art Writings. 
Part One: Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawing]

Edited by Marinella Pigozzi
Bologna, CLUEB, 1999

Fig. 1) The frontispiece of the manuscript
© Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
Source: http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?direction=prev&ID=6

Marinella Pigozzi published two volumes on the figure and the writings of Francesco Cavazzoni in 1999. The first one, which is titled Francesco Cavazzoni. Scritti d’arte (Francesco Cavazzoni. Writings on Art) includes the annotated edition of two little-known manuscripts of the Bolognese painter: Pitture et sculture et altre cose notabile [sic] che sono in Bologna (Paintings et Sculptures and Other Notable Things which are in Bologna), dated 1603 and dedicated to Count Romeo Pepoli (with notes by Giovanni Sassu) and the Essemplario della nobile arte del disegno (Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Design), written in June 1612 and addressed to Count Roderico Pepoli, Romeo’s younger brother. Ms Pigozzi’s second volume is titled Bologna al tempo di Cavazzoni. Approfondimenti (Bologna at the time of Cavazzoni. Insights). Also published by CLUEB, it contains an initial test of the curator about Bologna’s changing urban and architectural settings in the second Cinquecento, and two additional writings that were taken into account in the drafting of these notes. They are:

• Giovanni Sassu, Sull’affidabilità dell’«osservatore [d]al vivo» (On the Reliability of the ''Live Observer"); 
• Fabio Chiodini, Scena pubblica e dimensione privata a Bologna fra XVI e XVII secolo (Public Scene and Private Dimension in Bologna between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth century).

Both writings by Cavazzoni had already been presented (but not in annotated edition) by Ranieri Varese in 1969: the Collection within Francesco Cavazzoni critico e pittore (Francesco Cavazzoni, critic and painter) (Florence, Marchi e Bertolli Publishers); Paintings et sculptures in three issues (103, 104 and 108) of Critica d’arte, the magazine edited by Carlo L. Ragghianti. In Francesco Cavazzoni, critic and painter is also displayed a photographic reproduction of the Corona di Grazie (Crown of Graces), another manuscript by Cavazzoni (1608, but with subsequent updates) in which are collected the images of the "miraculous" Madonnas that populated churches and streets in Bologna at that time. But let us go step by step.

Fig. 2) Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawing, c. 4r.
© Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
Source: http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?direction=next&ID=10

Francesco Cavazzoni

On Francesco Cavazzoni we know very little. The presumed date of birth (1559), mentioned by Luigi Crespi in his 1769 Vite de’ Pittori Bolognesi non descritte nella ‘Felsina Pittrice’ (Lives of Bolognese Painters not described in the ‘Felsina Pittrice’), is definitely wrong. In fact, during a court case held in 1574 in which Francesco was involved, Bartolomeo Passerotti, his teacher, testified to have had him in his workshop for 14 years. Therefore, it is realistic to think that Cavazzoni was born a few years before 1550. We do not know his date of death either, but we know that in 1616 he compiled the last of his manuscript works, the Trattato del santo viaggio di Gerusalemme (Treatise of the Holy Voyage to Jerusalem).

A curious circumstance should be highlighted right away: the few works that are testified in his catalogue as painter are all prior to 1600; the manuscripts that he produced are all subsequent to that date, almost as Francesco, at some point, had stopped painting and dedicated to writing. We have already mentioned all his texts, but we are summarizing them here for convenience. They are Paintings and Sculptures and Other Notable Things which are in Bologna (1603), The Crown of Graces (1608 with subsequent updates), the Collection of 1612 and the Treatise of the Holy Voyage to Jerusalem (1616). As seen, Cavazzoni alternates works on artistic themes with other ones which have an exquisite religious character. They all share, however, the feature not to have been published. And, if in the case of Paintings and Sculptures one can think of a certain level of incompleteness (there is no mention of the religious complex of the St. Stephen's Basilica), in the others one can wonder whether he planned publication as ultimate purpose or limited himself to the compilation of writings to be delivered to clients.

On Cavazzoni as an artist (but also on his treatises) there is a difference of interpretation between Ranieri Varese’s views (essentially shared by Carlo L. Ragghianti who welcomed the study in the series Pisan Collection he directed) and those of Marinella Pigozzi. The difference essentially lies in the relationship between Cavazzoni and the Carraccis. If Varese, in fact, considered Cavazzoni as a "flattened" follower of the experience of the Carraccis’ Academy [1], Ms. Pigozzi (more convincingly in my opinion) describes a far more articulated reality in the Bolognese world of the last thirty years in 1500, where, in addition to the well-known "Carracci revolution" based on the study of the natural and true, the epigones of the Tuscan-Roman manner in an Emilian version (think of Passerotti or Prospero Fontana) were still active (and had their own visibility and dignity), especially in consideration of the strong guidance from Cardinal Paleotti in the sense of the Counterreformation. His stimulus cannot be forgotten, due to the role that Paleotti had in the Council of Trent and the fact that he was elected bishop of Bologna in 1566, three years after its end. So, if it is true that the Discorso sulle immagini sacre e profane (Discourse on the sacred and profane images) is of 1582, it is equally obvious that well before, and in a very direct way, Paleotti was able to practice in Bologna his ideas in terms of decency and 'decorum' of artworks. Cavazzoni (also simply due to reasons of sequence of events) seem to be firmly anchored (as we shall see in the Collection) to Mannerist ideas. If anything, he interprets them in his works in a "pious manner" that, while drawing on the language of mannerism, translates it in a sincere adherence to Paleotti’s directives.

Fig. 3) Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawings, c. 6r.
© Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
Source: http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?direction=prev&ID=16

The Collection of Examples

Between the two manuscripts proposed with commentary by Ms Pigozzi, criticism – as it was to be expected - ended to give higher priority to the review of "notables" artworks (i.e. to Paintings and sculptures), trying to verify whether it would be useful and reliable for the purpose of attributions. But I would like to discuss first of all the Collection of Examples. Personally, I was amazed not so much for the contents (widely discussed by treatises for centuries), or for the images (which are nevertheless really noticeable), but above all for the innovative organization of the text. We have two handwritten copies of the Textbook which, according to Pigozzi, are due to the same hand [2]: one is kept at the Biblioteca d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte di Roma (Library of Archaeology and History of Art in Rome), the second in Bologna, at the Archiginnasio Municipal Library with signature ms. B 330. The annotated edition was conducted on the latter. The original is now available online at http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?Id=1

The (long) full title of the manuscript is “Textbook of the Noble Art of Drawing for those who are delighted by the Virtues, separately discussing Symmetry, Anatomy, and Geometry, and others Ways to understand all Principles, with original Statements by the Bolognese Francesco Cavazzoni”. The title suggests that the manuscript had an educational nature and was addressed to the teaching of the "noble" art of drawing to amateurs. Certainly, it was not the only example of this type of publication. Just think of the Scuola perfetta per imparare a disegnare tutto il corpo humano (The Perfect School to Learn to Draw the whole Human Body) which essentially consisted of a series of engravings of Luca Ciamberlano on designs by Agostino Carracci. According to Ms Pigozzi, the Perfect School, printed in Rome by Pietro Stefanoni in 1640 and also addressed "to the noble amateurs of drawings” suggests that "Agostino Carracci invented a strategy for the communication of a teaching formula already established in the practice of the workshops [...]. If we think the leadership of Augustine is likely, we have to date the creation before 1602, the year of his death, but I would not rule out a backdating to 1599"[3]. We are at least ten years before Cavazzoni’s Collection.

Fig. 4) Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawing, c. 8r.
© Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
Source: http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?direction=prev&ID=20

The double page organization

The manuscript consists of 35 cards, and is organized in double page. The left one contains the text; the right one displays the images. The Collection’s didactic nature is further strengthened by this feature. Even today it is known that it is a good idea to arrange double-page textbooks, in order to enable teachers to exhaust a subject in one hour lesson. That's exactly what Cavazzoni did. He wrote lessons, composed of text and images.

With the utmost effrontery, I would like to note that neither Varese nor Ms. Pigozzi pointed out that, from the card 3 verso to the card 4 recto (i.e. from the "first" class), the part of the text (i.e. the page to the left) is systematically divided into two sections. First comes a recommendation of ethical / theoretical nature, which should be understood and possibly memorised; then follow the true and proper considerations relating to the pictures in the opposite page. If we wanted, we could very well put together all the initial statements of each page of text and all instructions relating to the images and realize that they live their own and separate life very well. I apologize if I am entering into some detail, but I feel obliged to provide here a few examples, starting from ethical and theoretical considerations. Here they are:

• 3 verso card: "The disciple, who is eager to learn the noble virtues of the design, must be fearing the Lord and be devoted of his most Holy Mother and the Saints, and then will choose a good and excellent master in that profession, and be obedient to him...".
• 4 verso card: "It is needed that what the disciple wants to learn aims at such virtues, because if it were not the case, he would make little progress."
• 5v paper: "When this aim will be secured, it is needed that the disciple continues to draw every hour because with effort and care he can obtain every progress."

And so on. As you can see, the first moral, then theoretical precepts are perfectly linked to each other and go on to say that, once drawing has been learned, the pupil must have notions of geometry and architecture, as well as (obviously) anatomy; the study of proportions cannot be missing and then what is needed is command of the practice in preparation of colours, and then in the grounding of the canvas, as well as the maintenance of brushes. All these topics are undoubtedly covered in a superficial (there is never a real depth: Cavazzoni offers a slight and superficial knowledge only), but consecutive and logic way.

If I am going to consider the second part of each page of the text, I realize that the organisation is similar. Here are the first three pages:

• 4 recto card: how to draw an eye;
• 5 recto card: how to draw an ear;
• 6 recto card: how to draw noses, mouths and whole faces.

Once again a perfectly consecutive logical order, but independent of the first text section.

What I mean by this? Obviously, each double page presents the text of a class of "master" Cavazzoni. Every class consisted of a moral or a theoretical principle to be learned by heart and a range of instructions on the technique of drawing that were then displayed on the opposite page.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the Collection was a school textbook. Nor should we have any doubts by saying that Cavazzoni had teaching experience, probably as a private tutor. Therefore, one should not judge the manuscript for the originality of its content (even today, school books are not original). After all, the first recommendation of the 3 verso card (the one stating that the disciple must be God-fearing, devout of Our Lady and the saints, and must choose a good teacher) is, almost verbatim, the same instruction with which Cennini opened his Book of the Art at the end of the fourteenth century. We must instead judge on the clarity of the examples and the impact of the double page on the potential disciple [6].

Fig. 5) Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawing, c. 10r.
© Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
Source: http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?Id=23

To whom was the Collection of Examples addressed?

The Textbook’s educational purposes are obvious. The question that arises is whether it is possible to identify the audience to which it was addressed. Ms. Pigozzi believes that conceivably it was for use by the Pepoli family [4] where Cavazzoni could have worked as a tutor. I agree with this view, and I would like to add some supporting elements. The manuscript was dedicated to Roderico Pepoli. From the prologue in form of a dedication (captatio benevolentiae) you can read that Roderico was seemingly a grown man, who had practiced and was still practicing the art of drawing as an amateur. We do not know when Roderico was born, but we know when he died, in 1666 [5]. While this needs to be checked with desirable archival researches, it means that (while accepting a longer than average life for the time) Roderico must have died at about 75 years. It follows a birth date around 1591. At the time of compiling the Textbook, the count would have had 21 years (and maybe even a little less). I would exclude in the most absolute way, therefore, that the manuscript was a commission by Roderico to educate his children. It is in my opinion very likely that the actual recipient of the opera was Roderico himself (and some other aristocrats of the same age), and that the work was part of the education of a nobleman, who must also know drawing, as well as geometry, architecture, literature and more. This goal would also explain well the level of teaching, which always remains superficial, without entering into too technical disquisitions.

I would like to pencil a further element: Paintings and sculptures (1603) is dedicated to Count Romeo Pepoli which Cavazzoni addresses in these terms: "To the most illustrious Count Romeo Pepoli, my always most respected patron". The Collection’s dedication (1612) instead reads "To the illustrious Count Roderico Pepoli"; and that of the journey to Jerusalem (1616), always to Roderico, reads "To the most illustrious and my most honourable lord and patron, the Count Roderico Pepoli". In the Textbook thus, there is no indication that Roderic was Cavazzoni’s "patron". An absence which may indicate two things (nothing happens by chance in these dedicatory formulas): either that Roderic was very young, or that he was not the commissioner of the work (i.e. the one who paid), but instead the recipient. In that case, it is likely that the patron has to be identified in Giulio Pepoli, the father of Roderico. Four years later, Roderico became the "patron", indicating that the contractual relationship of the Pepoli family with the elder Cavazzoni had now also been extended to the young count [7].

In any case, it seems clear that - with his reference to "nobility" of drawing- Cavazzoni achieved the synthesis between two different interests: his own interest, which is to reaffirm that his discipline belongs to liberal arts (Cavazzoni was registered with the College of Bolognese Painters from 1593), and that of the Pepolis, who saw in the study of drawing a distinctive component in the education of a true aristocrat. Instead, I would not give too much importance to the initial invective against "the painters of our times” who live in ignorance and demean the discipline. More than a direct reference to someone (even the Carraccis have been mentioned as a target, but it is not easy to understand why), it seems a cliché that was widely taken for centuries in educational texts, and not only to those referring to art.

Fig. 6) Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawing, c. 12r.
© Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
Source: http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?direction=next&ID=26

Mannerist traces and the influences of the Carraccis

The Textbook was certainly not a literary masterpiece, and even did not have to be. It also did not provide special interpretation keys. It is however certain that traces of Cavazzoni’s mannerist formation emerge anyway. Here I am not only referring to the only artist mentioned in the work, Parmigianino (12verso card), who is called into question with regard to the delicacy with which he painted his heads (and, above all, he left a very important imprint in his stay in Bologna, shortly after the sack of Rome). I would like especially to stress the statement that the artist "before begins to create anything, drawing with good judgment, should first have created in his mind all what he wants put in work" (card 17 verso); this echoes directly the treatises of the late Mannerist Lomazzo (1590) and Zuccari (1607), where a similar concept was developed, albeit with different nuances.

To the contrary, there is no quotation of the Carraccis nor their Academy, which suggests that the relationship between the author of the Collection and the Carraccis was not as tight as reported by Ranieri Varese. In fact, the real influence from the Carraccis is the Collection itself. Rightly writes the curator: "Cavazzoni’s cards confirm, without explicating it, the awareness in the city of the innovative character of private academic experience of the Carraccis. Praxis, theory and implementation accompanied systematically, and collectively, the Carraccis in the final two decades of the sixteenth century". For this reason I do not entirely agree when Ms Pigozzi claims that Cavazzoni could not have referred to the examples of the above-mentioned Perfect School to Learn to Draw the whole Human Body. It is true that the 81 tables were published only in 1640, but the hypothesis that the creator of the series was Agostino Carracci (who died in 1602) and that the loose sheets circulated in various editions for decades is widely accepted (even by the curator). It is therefore not unlikely that Cavazzoni had seen a "rough draft" of the work, perhaps even something similar to his Collection (i.e., drawings with an accompanying text) which circulated as a manuscript in those years and that he may have specifically imitated. The analogy of some tables (such as the one on the study of the eyes) testifies anyway, if not a direct dependence, at least a common way to "carry out the program" in Carraccis’ Academy and in Cavazzoni’s teaching model.

Fig. 7) Collection of Examples of the Noble Art of Drawing, c. 20r.
© Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
Source: http://badigit.comune.bologna.it/books/Essemplario/scorri.asp?direction=next&ID=42

The impression, in short, is that there is still much to learn from the Collection of Examples. It would first of all be important to offer the reader an issue where the manuscript is proposed by remaining faithful to its double-page structure (in the case of Pigozzi, mind you, it is evident that all this could not happen due to publishing constraints). I am convinced that the educational aspect of the work and, ultimately, the confidence which Cavazzoni has in the explanatory power of the image (an image that in itself creates knowledge) would result in a much more immediate way. It is, after all - from a purely editorial point of view - a deeply Emilian tradition, going back over the years, including the examples of the architectural treatises of Serlio and Vignola as genuine milestones.


End of Part One
Go to Part Two

NOTES

[1] See in particular pp. 39-40 of Francesco Cavazzoni critic and painter.

[2] Oral presentation at the conference Francesco Cavazzoni, un pittore devoto (Francesco Cavazzoni, a devoted painter), National Art Gallery of Bologna, April 7, 2016.

[3] See Marinella Pigozzi, Bologna. Bologna. Dall’anatomia agli esemplari del corpo, in Anatome. Sezione, scomposizione, raffigurazione del corpo nell’età moderna (From anatomy to specimens of the body in Anatome. Section, decomposition, representation of the body in the modern age); by Giuseppe Olmi and Claudia Pancino, p. 103.

[4] Oral presentation at the conference Francesco Cavazzoni, a devoted painter, National Art Gallery of Bologna, April 7, 2016.

[5] See Francesco Cavazzoni, Treaty of the Holy Voyage to Jerusalem, by Marinella Pigozzi, Bologna, Studio Costa, 2000, p. 208 n. 3.

[6] It should also be said that the exemplary at the Archiginnasio Library does not seem to be a "final" text. In several sheets Cavazzoni refers to the illustrations as if they contained letters (A, B. C, etc.) to better indicate particular aspects of the designs. However, in the drawings of this copy of the Textbook, there are no letters.

[7] If, as it seems likely, Cavazzoni was always contractually bound to the Pepolis in the last years of his life, it seems logical to say that documentation of his art activity should be precisely searched in the inventories and in the archives of the family.