DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57409#0066
50 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
three orders of columns, placed one above the other, and
varied, not only in the forms of the capitals and bases,
but also in the shafts of the columns, some being thick,
some being slender; some in couples, others in groups of
four; some have the form of vines, while others represent
supporting figures, variously sculptured. Animals of many
kinds are also made to support the weight of some among
these columns, which they bear on their backs, the whole
presenting the strangest and most extravagant fantasies
that can be imagined, not only widely deviating from the
pure taste of the antique, but even offending against all
rules of just proportion. Yet, notwithstanding these defects,
whoever considers the whole work, will perceive that the
artist made strenuous efforts towards the amelioration of his
art, and probably thought that he had found the true method
in that wondrous variety. Over the door of the church, the
same master sculptured a rude figure of God the Father,
surrounded by angels, of a rather large size, in mezzo-rilievo;
and, together with these, he placed the twelve months of the
year, his own name, in round letters, as was then the custom,
being sculptured beneath, with the date 1216.* Marchionne
is also reported to have built the ancient edifice of the hos-
pital and church of the Santo Spirito, in the Borgo Vecchio
at Rome, for the same pontiff Innocent III; some remains
of this hospital may yet be seen, and the ancient church was
standing, in its primitive form, even in our own days, but it
has been restored, in the modern taste, and with improved
designs, by Pope Paul III, of the house of Farnese.
In the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, also in Rome, the
same architect built the marble chapel f which encloses the
manger of the Nativity, and in which he placed the portrait
of Pope Honorius III, taken from life, whose tomb he had
also constructed with ornaments in a very good style, and
totally unlike the manner then prevalent throughout Italy. J
About the same time Marchionne completed the lateral door
* This inscription has caused Vasari to conclude the whole fagade
and campanile to be the work of Marchionne ; but these, as well as the
greater part of the church, are of a much later period, namely 1300.—
See Rondinelli, Descrizione d‘Arezzo, and the Annali Aretini.—Ed. Flor.
| Afterwards rebuilt by Pope Sixtus V.
| For the details of this subject, see D’Agincourt and Cicognara.
three orders of columns, placed one above the other, and
varied, not only in the forms of the capitals and bases,
but also in the shafts of the columns, some being thick,
some being slender; some in couples, others in groups of
four; some have the form of vines, while others represent
supporting figures, variously sculptured. Animals of many
kinds are also made to support the weight of some among
these columns, which they bear on their backs, the whole
presenting the strangest and most extravagant fantasies
that can be imagined, not only widely deviating from the
pure taste of the antique, but even offending against all
rules of just proportion. Yet, notwithstanding these defects,
whoever considers the whole work, will perceive that the
artist made strenuous efforts towards the amelioration of his
art, and probably thought that he had found the true method
in that wondrous variety. Over the door of the church, the
same master sculptured a rude figure of God the Father,
surrounded by angels, of a rather large size, in mezzo-rilievo;
and, together with these, he placed the twelve months of the
year, his own name, in round letters, as was then the custom,
being sculptured beneath, with the date 1216.* Marchionne
is also reported to have built the ancient edifice of the hos-
pital and church of the Santo Spirito, in the Borgo Vecchio
at Rome, for the same pontiff Innocent III; some remains
of this hospital may yet be seen, and the ancient church was
standing, in its primitive form, even in our own days, but it
has been restored, in the modern taste, and with improved
designs, by Pope Paul III, of the house of Farnese.
In the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, also in Rome, the
same architect built the marble chapel f which encloses the
manger of the Nativity, and in which he placed the portrait
of Pope Honorius III, taken from life, whose tomb he had
also constructed with ornaments in a very good style, and
totally unlike the manner then prevalent throughout Italy. J
About the same time Marchionne completed the lateral door
* This inscription has caused Vasari to conclude the whole fagade
and campanile to be the work of Marchionne ; but these, as well as the
greater part of the church, are of a much later period, namely 1300.—
See Rondinelli, Descrizione d‘Arezzo, and the Annali Aretini.—Ed. Flor.
| Afterwards rebuilt by Pope Sixtus V.
| For the details of this subject, see D’Agincourt and Cicognara.