Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

as an intermediary between the duke and the workshops. Maestro Giovanne
Fiamengo and the Pittore da ForIi both appear in the many documents concerning
the workshops as being employed by the duke. Cibo was obviously
acquainted with Ardovino and, therefore, must have been familiar with the
workshops and the artists working there. He might have known the young
Mariani if the latter did arrive in Pesaro before 1600. In any case, he probably
knew the miniaturists' workshop.
The connection
As mentioned earlier, the Rome manuscript is written in two hands. The
two pages in Cibo's handwriting comprise two chapters, one chapter on the
mixture for meadows and fields (with two color samples in the margin), and
one chapter with more general instructions on mixtures of colors (see Appendix
doc. 3). At the end of the latter chapter, the following is written: " . ..
such that if you Sir, will try to be a little less lazy and exercise more often,
the exercises will work out very well." This last sentence makes clear that the
manuscript was intended as a manual for someone who wanted to learn, or
was ordered to learn, to paint and draw landscapes like Cibo did, that is, in
the Flemish way. Although the manuscript is part of the Urbinati Latini collection
of the Vatican Library, it seems unlikely that it was written fo r the
duke himself, as the final remark is not very suitable fo r addressing a duke. It
is reasonable to assume, however, that the duke, obviously impressed by Cibo's
artistic capabilities, asked him to write down his techniques for the execution
of landscapes in the Flemish manner in a manual that could be used by the
duke's miniaturists' workshop. The different handwriting, corrections, and
repetitions may indicate that Cibo dictated the text to someone, except for
the chapter in which he addresses the person for whom the manuscript was
meant. This person might have been the young Mariani. If not, then Mariani
found the little book on landscape painting, reworked it, and included it in
his treatise. The pigments and dyestuffs that appear in the landscape sectionsome
of them rather uncommon, such as giallo de' vasari and bruno d'Inghilterra--are
all described in Mariani's recipes (in the first section of the Leiden
and Yale manuscripts) . Cibo really did experiment with extracting colors from
plants and fruits, as well as with mixtures of pigments, as similar proofs of the
color samples described previously can be found throughout all Cibo's works,
even in the margin of the text of the Rome manuscript. These ricordi (reminders)
may have inspired Mariani to describe exactly those pigments and
dyestuffs Cibo used. Interesting is the use of the name giallo de' vasari (potter's
yellow) for lead-antimone yellow. In the Marche, the most important and
famous majolica industry of Italy was flourishing in the sixteenth century.
Cibo presumably obtained this pigment directly from the potters. In the recipe
for bruno de Inghilterra, Mariani says the color was known to spetiali et
pittori (pharmacists and painters) but that so far he had not been able to
discover the exact composition. Most of the other recipes are traditional,
except for those using plants and fruits to extract dyestuffs; the latter recipes
may also come from Cibo. The extra chapters on composition and underdrawing,
although not present in Ricordi di belli colori, seem to reflect Cibo's
techniques when compared with his work.
Although no definite proof can be given, a personal exchange of information
between Mariani and Cibo cannot be excluded.
A comparison between practice and theory is possible, as ample material can
be researched. Not only Mariani's miniatures, especially the signed one, but
also Cibo's many landscape drawings and the herbaria and illustrated Dioscorides
editions, provide this opportunity. It is clear that Mariani used the
same method of building up transparent layers in the background landscape
of his signed miniature as is described in Cibo's instructions (Plate 8). Mariani's
technique, although clearly guided by a personal interpretation, is very
similar to that used in Cibo's landscape drawings executed in ink and colored
with transparent watercolors.
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Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice