Table Of ContentGregorio Comanini
THE FIGINO, OR ON THE PURPOSE OF PAINTING
Art Theory in the Late Renaissance
Translated and Edited by Ann Doyle-Anderson and Giancarlo Maiorino
Gregorio Comanini's dialogue // Figino overo del fine della Pittura (1591)
offers one of the most comprehensive overviews of aesthetic theory and prac-
tice in the late sixteenth century. The dialogue takes the form of a conversa-
tion among the author's friends about the fine, or ultimate purpose, of art.
Comanini's interlocutors draw extensively from classical and contemporary
theory - Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Mazzoni, Tasso, Paleotti - in addressing the
vigorously debated aesthetic issues of their day: the nature of imitation and
the role of the artist's imagination; verisimilitude in literature and painting;
correspondences and differences among literature, painting, and music; the
superiority of one art to another; and the question of artistic decorum, a deli-
cate issue in the climate of the Counter-Reformation. Accompanying this
theoretical discussion are comments on works by Michelangelo, Giulio
Romano, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, andTorquato Tasso. Two painters, Ambrogio
Figino and Giuseppe Arcimboldo, are presented as emblematic of the two
opposing aesthetic stances - art is to teach / art is to please - that structure
the dialogue. Although the discussion ends with the apparent triumph of the
moral, didactic aesthetic, an ambiguity remains. What emerges from
Comanini's blending of ethical and aesthetic considerations is his absolute
conviction that art plays a critical role in human existence, whether as enter-
tainment, mirror of human activity, or teacher of moral truths.
Ann Doyle-Anderson and Giancarlo Maiorino provide the first complete
English translation of Comanini's text, along with an introduction and ex-
tensive notes. Their work is a welcome addition to the field of Renaissance
studies.
(Toronto Italian Studies)
ANN DOYLE-ANDERSON is Associate Professor, Department of Modern Lan-
guages, Stephen F. Austin State University.
GIANCARLO MAIORINO is Rudy Professor of Comparative Literature, Indiana
University.
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GREGORIO COMANINI
The Figino, orThe Figino, or
On the Purpose of Painting
ART THEORY IN THE LATE RENAISSANCE
Translated, with introduction and notes, by
Ann Doyle-Anderson and
Giancarlo Maiorino
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2001
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-3574-4 (cloth)
ISBN 0-8020-8446-X (paper)
Printed on acid-free paper
Toronto Italian Studies
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Comanini, Gregorio
The Figino, or, On the purpose of painting : art theory in the late
Renaissance
(Toronto Italian studies)
Translation of: II Figino, published 1591.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8020-3574-4 (bound) ISBN 0-8020-8446-X (pbk.)
1. Arts - Philosophy - Early works to 1800. 2. Painting -
Philosophy - Early works to 1800. 3. Aesthetics - Early works
to 1800. I. Doyle-Anderson, Ann II. Maiorino, Giancarlo, 1943-
III. Title. IV. Title: On the purpose of painting. V. Series.
ND1130.C6413 2001 700M C2001-901964-5
This book has been published with the help of grants from the Grupo
Espiritu Santo.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its
publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book
Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Vll
Introduction ix
On the Translation xviii
THE FIGINO 1
Dedication 3
The Dialogue 5
NOTES 111
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 147
INDEX 149
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Acknowledgments
Throughout this project we have benefited from the aid and cooperation of
both institutions and individuals. We are grateful to our respective universi-
ties for grants and research leaves that have enabled us to complete our
work. We are deeply indebted to Professor Albert P. Steiner, Jr, for allowing
us to use his translations of Latin poetry, in particular excerpts from
Sannazaro's De partu virginis, and for offering us invaluable advice on
Greek, Hebrew, and Latin texts. Jody Shiftman's efforts as research assistant
were both tireless and meticulous. Among others who have been particularly
generous with their time and support, we wish to thank David Armstrong,
David Bollotin, Mark Clark, Mary Devine, Richard Lounsbury, Richard
Lower, and James Magruder for their advice in matters of classical aesthetics;
and Enrique Alarcon, Ignazio Angelelli, Ted Baeninger, John Dahmus, Ron
Groschen, Louis Mackey, and Kenneth Steinhauser for their assistance with
medieval philosophy, theological terms, Church history, and patristic litera-
ture. Louis Waldman gave us excellent advice on Renaissance iconography.
At the University of Toronto Press, Theresa Griffin's superb editing greatly
improved the manuscript, and we also wish to thank Ron Schoeffel and
Anne Laughlin for their interest and professionalism throughout the project.
We further express our appreciation to Lone Wittliff for her assistance with
works in Swedish, and to Robert Young of Special Collections at the Ernst
Mayr Library, Harvard University, for his aid in locating Renaissance texts
on alchemy and zoology. We extend thanks to the Dartmouth University
Library and the Lilly Library of Indiana University, and special thanks to
Jackie Ferguson and Richard Ford of the Interlibrary Loan office of Stephen
F. Austin State University, without whose perseverance and dedication this
book would not have been possible.
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Introduction
Gregorio Comanini's dialogue // Figino overo del fine della Pittura (1591)
offers one of the most comprehensive overviews of aesthetic theory and
practice in a period characterized by a proliferation of treatises on art -
indeed, an 'age of criticism/ as Baxter Hathaway has so aptly described the
late sixteenth century.1 As Comanini's interlocutors attempt to resolve the
issue of the fine, or ultimate purpose, of art, they draw extensively from
classical and contemporary theory - Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Mazzoni, Tasso,
Paleotti - in order to deal with the most discussed, and sometimes most
hotly debated, aesthetic issues of their day: whether art is to teach or to
please; the nature of imitation and the role of the artist's imagination;
verisimilitude in literature and in painting; correspondences and differences
among literature, painting, and music; the superiority of one art to another;
and the question of artistic decorum, a delicate issue in the climate of the
Counter-Reformation. Accompanying this exhaustive treatment of theory
are numerous analytical comments on works by Michelangelo, Giulio
Romano, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, and Torquato Tasso. Indeed, two painters,
Ambrogio Figino and Giuseppe Arcimboldo, are presented as emblematic of
the two opposing aesthetic stances - art is to teach / art is to please - that
structure the dialogue. Although the discussion ends with the apparent
triumph of the moral, didactic aesthetic, there remains a certain ambiguity, a
lack of resolution in some issues that shows Comanini more closely aligned
with his friends Paolo Lomazzo, Torquato Tasso, and Giacopo Mazzoni, all
passionately engaged in artistic debate, than with the strictly doctrinal
Paleotti.2 In short, Comanini's dialogue is a compendium of issues from an
age in which debates are characterized by true scholarly precision, elaborate
discussion, and, perhaps most tellingly, conclusions less conclusive than
they seem.
