DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51584#0133
BENOZZO GOZZOLI.
129
his greatest work, the decoration of the Campo
Santo.
When the troubles of war, famine, plague, and
intestine divisions, which had distracted Pisa during;
the first half of the fifteenth century, had subsided,
the citizens of that rich and active republic re-
sumed those works of peace which had been inter-
rupted for nearly a century, and resolved to com-
plete the painting of their far-famed cemetery, the
Campo Santo. One whole side, the north wall,
was yet untouched: they intrusted the work to
Benozzo Gozzoli, who, though now old (upwards
of sixty, and worn with toil and trouble), did not
hesitate to undertake a task which, to use Vasari’s
strong expression, was nothing less than “ terribi-
lissima,” and enough “ to frighten a whole legion
of painters.” In twenty-four compartments he re-
presented the whole history of the Old Testament
from Noah down to King Solomon. The endless
fertility of fancy and invention displayed in these
compositions; the pastoral beauty of some of the
scenes, the Scriptural sublimity of others ; the hun-
dreds of figures introduced, many of them portraits
of his own time; the dignity and beauty of the
heads; the exquisite grace of some of the figures,
almost equal to Raphael; the ample draperies, the
gay rich colours, the profusion of accessories, as
buildings, landscapes, flowers, animals, and the care
and exactness with which he has rendered the cos-
129
his greatest work, the decoration of the Campo
Santo.
When the troubles of war, famine, plague, and
intestine divisions, which had distracted Pisa during;
the first half of the fifteenth century, had subsided,
the citizens of that rich and active republic re-
sumed those works of peace which had been inter-
rupted for nearly a century, and resolved to com-
plete the painting of their far-famed cemetery, the
Campo Santo. One whole side, the north wall,
was yet untouched: they intrusted the work to
Benozzo Gozzoli, who, though now old (upwards
of sixty, and worn with toil and trouble), did not
hesitate to undertake a task which, to use Vasari’s
strong expression, was nothing less than “ terribi-
lissima,” and enough “ to frighten a whole legion
of painters.” In twenty-four compartments he re-
presented the whole history of the Old Testament
from Noah down to King Solomon. The endless
fertility of fancy and invention displayed in these
compositions; the pastoral beauty of some of the
scenes, the Scriptural sublimity of others ; the hun-
dreds of figures introduced, many of them portraits
of his own time; the dignity and beauty of the
heads; the exquisite grace of some of the figures,
almost equal to Raphael; the ample draperies, the
gay rich colours, the profusion of accessories, as
buildings, landscapes, flowers, animals, and the care
and exactness with which he has rendered the cos-