DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7597#0054
chap, i.] THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.
25
" the latter part of the fifteenth century, when such works were
" most frequent; and that these wood-cuts might have been the
" work of an engraver called Cunio, is by no means impossible;
" especially as there really existed painters of that name at
" Milan*......The Swiss Captain may answer for the ro-
" mance about the twins."
Heineken cannot be accused of want of candour upon this
occasion. He appears like a pleader, who, after having rigidly
cross-examined a suspected witness, is at length convinced of his
veracity. The reader will, however, soon find that he was him-
self in error, when he asserted that there was no Count Alberico
Cunio in the time of Honorius the IVth; and will learn, in a sub-
sequent chapter, how far he ought to bow before the boasted om-
niscience of Mariette. The truth is, that upon these, as upon all
other subjects, much knowledge still remains to be obtained, even
by him who knows the most, f
* Unfortunately, however, we have no ac-
count of any artist of the name of Cunio
(always excepting the twins) until late in the
sixteenth century.
f That Mariette, whose reading and eru-
dition, upon all matters relating to the arts
of design, were certainly very extensive, should
now and then have forgot this maxim, (as
upon the occasion of his conversation with
Heineken) will hardly be wondered at, by
any one who peruses the extravagant compli-
ments lavished upon him by all the cognos-
centi of his day; and more especially by the
writers of Italy. The following specimen,
extracted from a letter written by Monsignor
Bottari to the editor of the Lives of the
Painters, by Giambattista Passeri, and pre-
fixed to that work, upon its publication at
Rome, in 1772, in 4to, may suffice. After
having bestowed a well-merited eulogium on
the work in question, he says:
" The first account which I had of these
" Lives, I received from the most learned
" Sig. Pietro Mariette; who, in a letter
" addressed to me, and printed at the begin-
" ning of the sixth volume of the ' Lettere
" Pittoriche/ at p. 10, says: / have a Life
V of Pietro da Cortona in MS. by Gio.
" Battista Passeri, which is unfinished; and
" that part of it which is done, is ill done.
" But let not this criticism of Monsieur
« Mariette surprise you, for in matters of
" this kind he is the most erudite and insati-
" able (incontentabile) man now living, or,
" perhaps, that ever did live; nor is it pro-
« bable that there will ever be another pos-
" sessed of a museum more rich in works of
" this kind, or more interesting, as well for
25
" the latter part of the fifteenth century, when such works were
" most frequent; and that these wood-cuts might have been the
" work of an engraver called Cunio, is by no means impossible;
" especially as there really existed painters of that name at
" Milan*......The Swiss Captain may answer for the ro-
" mance about the twins."
Heineken cannot be accused of want of candour upon this
occasion. He appears like a pleader, who, after having rigidly
cross-examined a suspected witness, is at length convinced of his
veracity. The reader will, however, soon find that he was him-
self in error, when he asserted that there was no Count Alberico
Cunio in the time of Honorius the IVth; and will learn, in a sub-
sequent chapter, how far he ought to bow before the boasted om-
niscience of Mariette. The truth is, that upon these, as upon all
other subjects, much knowledge still remains to be obtained, even
by him who knows the most, f
* Unfortunately, however, we have no ac-
count of any artist of the name of Cunio
(always excepting the twins) until late in the
sixteenth century.
f That Mariette, whose reading and eru-
dition, upon all matters relating to the arts
of design, were certainly very extensive, should
now and then have forgot this maxim, (as
upon the occasion of his conversation with
Heineken) will hardly be wondered at, by
any one who peruses the extravagant compli-
ments lavished upon him by all the cognos-
centi of his day; and more especially by the
writers of Italy. The following specimen,
extracted from a letter written by Monsignor
Bottari to the editor of the Lives of the
Painters, by Giambattista Passeri, and pre-
fixed to that work, upon its publication at
Rome, in 1772, in 4to, may suffice. After
having bestowed a well-merited eulogium on
the work in question, he says:
" The first account which I had of these
" Lives, I received from the most learned
" Sig. Pietro Mariette; who, in a letter
" addressed to me, and printed at the begin-
" ning of the sixth volume of the ' Lettere
" Pittoriche/ at p. 10, says: / have a Life
V of Pietro da Cortona in MS. by Gio.
" Battista Passeri, which is unfinished; and
" that part of it which is done, is ill done.
" But let not this criticism of Monsieur
« Mariette surprise you, for in matters of
" this kind he is the most erudite and insati-
" able (incontentabile) man now living, or,
" perhaps, that ever did live; nor is it pro-
« bable that there will ever be another pos-
" sessed of a museum more rich in works of
" this kind, or more interesting, as well for