A founding stone of modern art history, the Vite written by the Tuscan painter and architect Giorgio Vasari appeared in first edition in 1550. As has been emphasized in recent scholarship, Vasari’s collection of artists’ biographies followed a clear historiographic structure that interpreted the process of art’s rebirth since the late thirteenth century as a sequence of three phases leading from a time of beginning (Cimabue and Giotto), to a time of progress (Masaccio, Brunelleschi and Donatello) to the time of perfection (Raphael and Michelangelo). According to this model, the building of the Camposanto and the murals along its galleries belonged to the first period (the exception being the fifteenth century works by Benozzo Gozzoli). Yet as becomes clear from the following excerpts, the Pisan cemetery has no particular role in Vasari’s master narrative: Vasari basically treats the information about the building and the frescoes in the same laconic manner found in the older artistic literature that he used as his source (Antonio Billi and the Anonimo Magliabechiano). In fact, the names of the artists and the subjects of the paintings are almost identical with those that appear in the Codice Magliabechiano. Thus, when Vasari composed the first version of the Vite he had not developed any particular interest in the Pisan cemetery. Introducing Giovanni Pisano as a pupil of the much younger sculptor Andrea Pisano, he gives a very confusing account of the chronology of Pisan sculpture and architecture. In stark contrast to this rather negligent treatment, the detailed description of Benozzo Gozzoli’s murals in the northern gallery prove that the author of the Viteknew the monument very well, and that he was willing to provide much more nuanced characterizations of artworks and the achievements of their makers when he deemed it fitting. In the eyes of Vasari, Gozzoli represented an advanced stage of art’s rebirth in the fifteenth century which was characterized by the mastery of perspective and the copiousness of beautiful detail. Also, as a pupil of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Fra Angelico, the painter belonged to the Florence-centered core narrative of the Vite. Interestingly, the passage on Gozzoli is the only text on the Pisan cemetery to survive almost unaltered in the second edition of the Vite from 1568. /DG
Vasari, Le vite_1550 (Stefano-Gozzoli)
Source: Giorgio Vasari, Le Vite de’ più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani, da Cimabue insino a’ tempi nostri, 2 vols. (Florence: Lorenzo Torrentino, 1550).
Edition: Giorgio Vasari, Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568, ed. by Rosanna Bettarini, commentary by Paola Barocchi, 6 vols. (Firenze: Sansoni 1966-1987).
1.Stefano Pittor Fiorentino
Transcription
“Imparò Stefano l’arte della pittura da Giotto, il quale l’amò molto per li costumi buoni, et per l’assiduità, che mostrava in ogni sua azzione, che per tale essercizio facesse. La onde in poco tempo dopo la morte di Giotto, lo avanzò di maniera, d’invenzione, et di disegno talmente, che negli artefici vecchi può veramente darsigli il vanto; poi ch’egli tolse a tutti l’onore, et il pregio. Costui dipinse a fresco, in Pisa, la Nostra Donna del Campo Santo; et in Fiorenza nel chiostro di Santo Spirito in tre archetti, a fresco lavorò di sua mano, nell’uno de i quali è la Trasfigurazione di Christo con Mose et Elia et i tre discepoli.” (1:150)
Translation
Stefano learned the art of painting from Giotto who loved him very much for his good manners, and for the assiduity he showed in each of his activities that he undertook for this practice. This is why a short time after Giotto’s death, he outstripped him in style, in invention, and in drawing, so that one really has to give him priority among the older artists. Because he withdrew the honor and the esteem of all of them. He painted in fresco the Madonna of the Campo Santo in Pisa, and in Florence, in the cloister of S. Spirito, he made frescoes by his own hand in three arches. In one of those there is the transfiguration of Christ with Moses, Elijah and the three disciples.
2. Andrea Pisano Scultore
Transcription
“E le dette opere di Andrea furono da lui lavorate circa gli anni MCCCXXXIX. Lasciò a la morte sua discepoli assai, fra ‘ quali fu Giovanni Pisano architetto che fece il disegno e la fabbrica del Camposanto di Pisa et il campanile del Duomo; similmente Nicola Pisano, che fece la fonte et il pergamo di San Giovanni.” (1:162)
Translation
And the aforementioned works by Andrea were executed around the year 1339. When he died he left a lot of disciples, among them the architect Giovanni Pisano who designed and built the Camposanto of Pisa and the Campanile of the Cathedral; similarly, Nicola Pisano who made the basin and the pulpit of San Giovanni [= the Baptistery].
3. Buonamico Buffalmacco Pittor Fiorentino
Transcription
“Lavorò à fresco in Bologna in S. Petronio la capella de Bolognini, con molte istorie e gran numero di figure: doue tanto satisfece à quel gentilhuomo che lo faceua lavorare, che oltre al premio che non fu piccolo ne acquistò benivolenzia e amore perpetuo. Appresso fù da molti signori per Italia chiamato, per la sua garbata maniera, e per far burle, e per trattener cicalando gli amici. Fece ancora in San Paolo à Ripa d’Arno certi lavori et in Campo Santo alcune storie, dove comincia il principio del mondo. Fu costui sempre familiare e domestico di Maso del Saggio, e la sua bottega era del continuo piena di cittadini, tirati dalle costui piacevolezze, secondo che si vede nella novella di maestro Simone, quando lo mandarono in corso, e similmente nelle giostre fatte a Caladrino. (1:165)
Translation
He worked in fresco in Bologna, in the Cappella Bolognini in S. Petronio, with many stories and a huge number of figures. There he satisfied the gentleman who commissioned the work to such an extent that not only did he receive a payment that was not small but earned benevolence and perpetual love. Then he was called by many rulers around Italy, for his polite manners, for his jokes, and for entertaining friends with his chat. He also made certain works in San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno and some histories in the Campo Santo, where the creation of the world begins. He was always in the family and domestic service of Maso del Saggio, and his workshop was always full of people who were drawn to his wit, as one can see in the novella about master Simon [= Decameron VIII, 9], when he was sent on his way, and similarily in the tricks he played on Calandrino [= Decameron VIII, 3, VIII, 6, IX, 3, IX, 5].
4. Taddeo Gaddi Pittor Fiorentino
Transcription
“Nella chiesa de frati de’Servi dipinse la capella di San Nicolò di quegli del Palagio, con istorie di quel Santo. Dove con ottimo giudizio et grazia per una barca quivi dipinta, dimostrò assai chiaramente, come egli aveva notizia intera, del tempestoso agitar del mare; et della furia della fortuna. Nella quale mentre che i marinari votano la naue, et in mare gettano le mercizie, appare in aria Santo Niccolò, et gli libera da quel pericolo: opera certo molto lodata. Fù condotto a Pisa dalla comunità, dove nel Campo Santo fece in istorie tutta la vita del patientissimo Giobbe: et nella medesima città nel Chiostro di San Francesco, una Nostra Donna con alcuni santi, la quale è con molta diligenza lavorata et condotta.” (1:179)
Translation
“In the church of the Servite Order he painted the Chapel of Saint Nicholas owned by the Palagio family, with stories of this saint. In a ship that he painted there, he demonstrated very clearly, with the best judgment and grace, that he knew how to handle the stormy movement of the sea, and the fury of Lady Fortune. In this scene, as the sailors empty the ship and throw the merchandise in the water, Saint Nicholas appears in the air, freeing them of this peril; this work was certainly much praised. He was sent to Pisa by the community, where, in the Camposanto, he made scenes of the whole life of the extremely patient Job, and in the same city, in the Cloister of San Francesco, a Madonna with some saints that is executed and finished with great diligence.”
Transcription
“Mostrossi molto accorto nelle sue operazioni, et vedesi espressamente, che mai non si parte dal buono, chi nascendo con esso, nelle azzioni sue, non fa mai cosa che né sia con buon garbo, e con bellissimo disegno. Il che mostrò lo spirito del garbatissimo Orgagna, il quale fece il principio delle pitture sue in Pisa, che sono alcune storie in Campo Santo, al lato a quelle di Giob, che furono fatte da Taddeo Gaddi. Fece in Fiorenza la capella grande di Santa Maria Nouella de Tornabuoni, ridipinta nel 1485, da Domenico Ghirlandai, il quale ne trasse molte invenzioni; di cose che in detto operar si servì. Fece ancora in detta chiesa la capella degli Strozzi, con Bernardo suo fratello, vicina alla porta della sagrestia, che sale una scala di pietra, nella quale lavorò una tavola a tempera, doue pose il nome suo. Et nelle facce di essa figurò l’Inferno et i cerchi, et le bolge di Dante, dilettandosi, con ogni studio cercare di intenderlo.
[…]
Sono per tutta Fiorenza infinite tavole, fatte da lui e parte da Bernardo suo fratello, il quale, poco dopo la morte di Andrea, chiamato a Pisa, fece l’Inferno di Campo Santo, imitando le invenzioni dello Orgagna.” (1:185, 186-187).
Translation
“He proved to be very prudent in his operations, and one can see here that one will never depart from the good when born with it, and in his actions, he never does anything without good manner and very beautiful drawing. This was the spirit of the extremely polite Orcagna who began his paintings in Pisa with some scenes in the Camposanto, near to the stories of Job which were made by Taddeo Gaddi. He worked in Florence on the choir chapel in Santa Maria Novella, owned by the Tornabuoni, which was repainted in 1485 by Domenico Ghirlandaio who took many inventions from there, of things which he used in this work. In the same church he worked in the Cappella Strozzi, with his brother Bernardo, which is close to the sacristy door where stone stairs rise, where he created a panel painted in tempera on which he placed his name. And on the walls of this chapel he represented Hell and the circles and the ditches of Dante, delighting in the attempt to understand him with full zeal.”
[…]
There are all over Florence unnumbered panels made by him and partially by his brother Bernardo who shortly after the death of Andrea was called to Pisa and made the Hell in the Camposanto, imitating the inventions of Orcagna.
6. Antonio Veneziano
Transcription
“Dimostrò questo medesimo Antonio nel frontispizio di sopra, in una storietta piccola della manna, con tanta diligenza lavorata e con sí buona grazia finita, che vanto dar si gli può di veramente eccellente. A Santo Antonio al ponte alla Carraia dipinse l’arco sopra la porta, et a Pisa dall’Opera del Duomo fu condotto, dove in Campo Santo fece gran parte delle storie di San Rinieri, et in quelle figurò la nascita, la vita e la morte sua. Ritornò a Fiorenza et a Nuovoli nel contado dipinse un tabernacolo. E perché molto studiava le cose di Dioscoride nelle erbe, piacendogli intendere le proprietà e virtú di esse, abbandonò la pittura e diedesi a stillar semplici e cercar quegli con ogni studio.” (1:202)
Translation
And the same Antonio showed in the frontispiece above [on the walls of the cloister of Santo Spirito in Florence], in a small scene of the Gathering of the Manna, which is executed with so much diligence and completed with such good grace, that one can praise him as truly excellent. At Santo Antonio near the Ponte alle Carraia he painted the lunette above the door, and he was called to Pisa by the Opera del Duomo, where he made the major part of the stories of Saint Ranieri, depicting his birth, his life and his death. He returned to Florence and painted a tabernacle in Novoli, in the countryside. And since he much studied the writings of Dioscorides about plants, and enjoyed understanding their properties and their virtues, he abandoned painting and dedicated himself to distilling herbal medicines and to search for them with great zeal.
7. Benozzo Gozzoli
Transcription
“Fu chiamato dalla Opera di Pisa, e lavorò nel cimiterio allato al Duomo, detto Camposanto, una parete di muro lunga quanto tutto lo edifizio, e vi fece storie del Testamento Vecchio con grandissima invenzione di figure. E bene si può veramente chiamar questa una opera terribilissima, per esservi distintamente le storie della creazione del mondo a giorno per giorno, tutte quelle di Noè che fabrica l’Arca e vi riceve gli animali, la inondazione del Diluvio espressa con bellissimi componimenti e copiosità di figure e con ogni bello ornamento; inoltre la superba edificazione della torre disegnata da Nebrot, lo incendio di Soddoma e delle altre città vicine, le istorie di Abramo, nelle quali sono da considerare affetti bellissimi, perché, ancora che Benozzo non avesse molto singular disegno nelle figure, e’ dimostrò nientedimanco l’arte efficacemente nel sacrifizio di Isaac, per avere situato in iscorto uno asino in tale maniera che e’ si volta per ogni banda: il che è tenuto cosa bellissima.
Seguì appresso il nascere di Mosè, con que’ tanti segni e prodigii, sino a che atrasse il popolo fuori de lo Egitto e lo cibò tanti anni dentro al deserto. Aggiunse a questo tutte le istorie ebree sino a Davit et a Salomone suo figliuolo, sino che a lui viene la regina Saba. E dimostrò veramente Benozzo in questo lavoro uno animo più che invitto, perché dove sì grande impresa arebbe giustamente fatto paura ad una legione di pittori, egli solo la fece tutta e la condusse a perfezzione. Di maniera che avendone acquistato fama grandissima, meritò che nel mezzo di quel lavoro gli fusse posto questo epigramma:
Quid spectas volucres, pisces, e monstra ferarum / Et virides silvas, ethereasque Domos?/ Et pueros, iuvenes, matres, canosque Parentes/ Queis semper vivum spirat in ore decus? / Non haec tam variis finxit simulacra figuris / Natura; ingenio foetibus apta suo: / Est opus artificis. Pinxit viva ora Benoxus: / O superi vivos fundite in ora sonos.
Nella medesima città di Pisa, nelle Monache di San Benedetto a Ripa d’Arno, finì tutta la storia della vita monastica diquel Santo, che non è piccola.”
Translation
He was called by the Opera of Pisa, and he worked in the cemetery called the Camposanto, which is beside the Duomo, covering the surface of a wall that runs the whole length of the building with stories from the Old Testament, wherein he showed very great invention with figures. And this may be said to be a truly tremendous work, seeing that it contains all the stories of the Creation of the world from one day to another, the construction of Noah’s Ark where he receives the animals, the inundation of the Flood represented with a very beautiful composition, abundant figures and every beautiful ornament. Then there follow the proud building of the tower designed by Nimrod, the burning of Sodom and the other neighboring cities, and the stories of Abraham, wherein some very beautiful effects are to be observed, for the reason that, although Benozzo was not remarkable in his drawing of figures, he showed his art effectively in the Sacrifice of Isaac by painting an ass foreshortened in such a manner that it seems to turn to either side; this is considered something very beautiful. After this comes the Birth of Moses, together with all those signs and prodigies that were seen, up to the time when he led his people out of Egypt and fed them for so many years in the desert. To these he added all the stories of the Hebrews up to the time of David and his son Solomon, until the visit by the Queen of Sheba. In this work Benozzo displayed a spirit truly more than invincible: while so great an enterprise might very well have daunted a legion of painters, he alone completed it all and brought it to perfection. Wherefore, having thus acquired very great fame, he won the honor of having the following epigram placed in the middle of the work:
How beholdest thou birds, fish, and monsters prodigious, / Sylvan greenery or heavenly habitations? / Children, youths, mothers, and hoary-headed elders, / Their countenances live with the decorous charm? / Who fashioned these images of such varied form / Was not Nature, her genius engendering that brood. / This is the work of Benozzo: by his art their visages live: / O gods above, endow them with voices as in life!”
In the same city of Pisa, for the nuns of San Benedetto a Ripa d’Arno, he painted all the stories of the monastic life of that saint, which are no small thing.