List of Tuscan Marble Quarries With Their Products, as Far as These Are Mentioned by Vasari
[§§. 5–11 and §§ 97–99.]
The reference to pages is to the present volume, the capital letters refer to the coloured drawing of the stones on the Frontispiece.
Names in square brackets do not actually occur in Vasari.
| DISTRICT. | CHIEF PLACE. | QUARRIES. | PRODUCTS. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Apuan Alps] | Carrara | Carrara in general | Breccias | (p. 37 f.) (C.D.) |
| Monti di Luni | [Bardigli] | (p. 45) (K.) | ||
| Garfagnana | Paragone | (p. 42) (P.) | ||
| White Statuary | (p. 45) | |||
| Black | ||||
| ‘Saligni’ | ||||
| ‘Campanini’ | ||||
| Mischiati | ||||
| Cippollino | (pp. 36, 49) (H.) | |||
| „ | Polvaccio | Best Statuary Marble in largest blocks | (p. 46) | |
| „ | Pietrasanta | [Monte Altissimo, | Columns for S. Lorenzo | (p. 46) |
| Seravezza | Alla Cappella, etc.] | ‘Campanini,’ ‘Saligni,’ coarse marbles | (p. 50) | |
| Stazzema | Statuary Marble (not now obtained) | (p. 261) (C.D.) | ||
| Mischi (Breccias) | ||||
| [Monti Pisani] | Pisa | Monte S. Giuliano | Fine White Marble, used on Duomo & Campo-Santo | (p. 50) |
| [Tuscan Maremma] | Gavorrano | [Caldana di Ravi] | [Red Limestone] | |
| [Promontory opposite Elba] | [Piombino] | Campiglia | Coarse Marbles, suited for building | (p. 50) |
| [Monte Albano] | [Pistoja] | [Monsummano] | Red Marble (limestone) on Duomo, Florence | (p. 43) (F.) |
| Neighbourhood of Florence, | Prato | [Monte Ferrato, Figline] | Marmo Nero [Verde di Prato] on Duomo, Florence | (p. 43) (E.) |
| North | ||||
| 3 m. N. of Prato | Paragone (limestone) for monuments | (p. 42) (P.) | ||
| East | Impruneta | |||
| 7 m. E. of Florence | Breccias | (p. 37) | ||
| South | Monte Rantoli between valleys of Ema and Greve | S. Giusto or [Monte Martiri] | Breccias | (p. 37) |
In the course of our inquiries we communicated with the Director of the Biblioteca Vittorio Emmanuele at Rome, Commendatore Conte Gnoli, who kindly gave attention to the subject, and contributed to the Giornale d’ Italia of Dec. 24, 1906, an interesting article, in which, though he could give no account of Maestro Gian, he described fully the extant works of which Vasari writes, and made some pertinent suggestions as to the ‘round temple.’ He thinks it unlikely that the building of a circular church from the foundations was contemplated by the French, and suggests that they were utilizing the foundations of a round chamber belonging to the Thermae of Nero which were in that neighbourhood, so that the ‘round temple’ would have been like the present S. Bernardo in the Thermae of Diocletian. M. Marcel Reymond has suggested that it was the sack of Rome in 1527 that led to the abandonment of the project—for the date of the undertaking can be fixed in the reign of François I of France, who came to the throne in 1515, from the fact that his cognizance, the salamander, occurs in the sculpture prepared for its embellishment. If the artist be really Bertolotti’s ‘Chavenier,’ as he died in 1527, this fact would also explain the abandonment.
The sculptures in question are in part incrusted in the façade of the present church of S. Luigi (see ante, p. 52) and the fact that some of them are carved on curved surfaces shows at once that they were prepared for a building of cylindrical form. There are two large salamanders in round frames of which one is shown on Plate VI, and two panels higher up in the façade with the curious device of an eagle with the head of a woman and outspread wings from which depend by ribbons on each side small medallions. There are also some lions’ heads. The most curious piece of all is built into the wall of the Palazzo Madama close beside the church, and this contains the various devices that Vasari calls ‘astrological globes’ ‘open books showing the leaves,’ ‘trophies,’ etc. The panel is small and placed too high to be properly seen, but Sig. Gnoli, by the aid of the architect of the palace, was able to give a description of them in the article above mentioned. The work is very minute and elaborate, and there are inscriptions from which it appears that the devices signify that the seven liberal arts are nourished by the lilies of France. The sculpture is not only elaborate in design but most artistic as well as delicate in execution. The ‘Salamander’ it will be seen is excellent work. M. Marcel Reymond points out that at the early part of the sixteenth century the Italians were accustomed to use marble for decorative carvings, and that this French artist, whoever he was, having been accustomed to carve the limestones of his native country, took naturally to the manipulation of travertine, and that his success with the material attracted the attention and admiration of the Romans which Vasari’s commendations reflect. It has been noticed above that Michelangelo’s frieze in the cortile of the Palazzo Farnese was not carved but modelled in stucco. See ante, p. 53.
On the subject of the mysterious artist a word will be said in connection with the later passage indicated at the beginning of this Note. See postea, p. 175.