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The document provides information about various ebooks available for download, particularly focusing on 'Foundations of ARM64 Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing' by Dmitry Vostokov. It includes links to additional resources and ebooks on related topics such as Linux debugging and log analysis. The document also outlines the structure and content of the ARM64 debugging book, detailing its chapters and key concepts.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
2 views51 pages

58627

The document provides information about various ebooks available for download, particularly focusing on 'Foundations of ARM64 Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing' by Dmitry Vostokov. It includes links to additional resources and ebooks on related topics such as Linux debugging and log analysis. The document also outlines the structure and content of the ARM64 debugging book, detailing its chapters and key concepts.

Uploaded by

telladawodcq
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Foundations of ARM64
Linux Debugging,
Disassembling, and
Reversing
Analyze Code, Understand Stack
Memory Usage, and Reconstruct
Original C/C++ Code with ARM64

Dmitry Vostokov
Foundations of
ARM64 Linux
Debugging,
Disassembling, and
Reversing
Analyze Code, Understand
Stack Memory Usage,
and Reconstruct Original C/C++
Code with ARM64

Dmitry Vostokov
Foundations of ARM64 Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing:
Analyze Code, Understand Stack Memory Usage, and Reconstruct Original
C/C++ Code with ARM64

Dmitry Vostokov
Dublin, Ireland

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-9081-1 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-9082-8


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9082-8
Copyright © 2023 by Dmitry Vostokov
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Table of Contents
About the Author���������������������������������������������������������������������������������ix

About the Technical Reviewer�������������������������������������������������������������xi

Preface����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xiii

Chapter 1: Memory, Registers, and Simple Arithmetic�������������������������1


Memory and Registers Inside an Idealized Computer������������������������������������������1
Memory and Registers Inside ARM 64-Bit Computer��������������������������������������������2
“Arithmetic” Project: Memory Layout and Registers��������������������������������������������3
“Arithmetic” Project: A Computer Program�����������������������������������������������������������5
“Arithmetic” Project: Assigning Numbers to Memory Locations���������������������������5
Assigning Numbers to Registers���������������������������������������������������������������������������8
“Arithmetic” Project: Adding Numbers to Memory Cells���������������������������������������9
Incrementing/Decrementing Numbers in Memory and Registers�����������������������12
Multiplying Numbers�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������15
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������18

Chapter 2: Code Optimization�������������������������������������������������������������19


“Arithmetic” Project: C/C++ Program�����������������������������������������������������������������19
Downloading GDB�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������20
GDB Disassembly Output – No Optimization�������������������������������������������������������21
GDB Disassembly Output – Optimization������������������������������������������������������������27
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������28

iii
Table of Contents

Chapter 3: Number Representations��������������������������������������������������29


Numbers and Their Representations�������������������������������������������������������������������29
Decimal Representation (Base Ten)��������������������������������������������������������������������30
Ternary Representation (Base Three)������������������������������������������������������������������30
Binary Representation (Base Two)����������������������������������������������������������������������31
Hexadecimal Representation (Base Sixteen)������������������������������������������������������32
Why Are Hexadecimals Used?�����������������������������������������������������������������������������32
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������34

Chapter 4: Pointers�����������������������������������������������������������������������������35
A Definition���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������35
“Pointers” Project: Memory Layout and Registers����������������������������������������������36
“Pointers” Project: Calculations��������������������������������������������������������������������������38
Using Pointers to Assign Numbers to Memory Cells�������������������������������������������39
Adding Numbers Using Pointers�������������������������������������������������������������������������46
Incrementing Numbers Using Pointers���������������������������������������������������������������51
Multiplying Numbers Using Pointers�������������������������������������������������������������������54
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������58

Chapter 5: Bytes, Halfwords, Words, and Doublewords����������������������59


Using Hexadecimal Numbers������������������������������������������������������������������������������59
Byte Granularity��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������60
Bit Granularity�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������60
Memory Layout���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������61
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������64

iv
Table of Contents

Chapter 6: Pointers to Memory�����������������������������������������������������������65


Pointers Revisited�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������65
Addressing Types������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������65
Registers Revisited���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������70
NULL Pointers�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������70
Invalid Pointers���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������70
Variables As Pointers������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������71
Pointer Initialization��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������71
Initialized and Uninitialized Data�������������������������������������������������������������������������72
More Pseudo Notation�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������72
“MemoryPointers” Project: Memory Layout�������������������������������������������������������73
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������87

Chapter 7: Logical Instructions and PC����������������������������������������������89


Instruction Format����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������89
Logical Shift Instructions������������������������������������������������������������������������������������90
Logical Operations����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������90
Zeroing Memory or Registers�����������������������������������������������������������������������������91
Program Counter�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������92
Code Section�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������93
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������94

Chapter 8: Reconstructing a Program with Pointers��������������������������95


Example of Disassembly Output: No Optimization����������������������������������������������95
Reconstructing C/C++ Code: Part 1��������������������������������������������������������������������98
Reconstructing C/C++ Code: Part 2������������������������������������������������������������������100
Reconstructing C/C++ Code: Part 3������������������������������������������������������������������102

v
Table of Contents

Reconstructing C/C++ Code: C/C++ Program��������������������������������������������������103


Example of Disassembly Output: Optimized Program���������������������������������������104
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������106

Chapter 9: Memory and Stacks��������������������������������������������������������107


Stack: A Definition���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������107
Stack Implementation in Memory���������������������������������������������������������������������108
Things to Remember�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������110
Stack Push Implementation������������������������������������������������������������������������������111
Stack Pop Implementation��������������������������������������������������������������������������������111
Register Review������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������111
Application Memory Simplified�������������������������������������������������������������������������112
Stack Overflow��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������113
Jumps���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������114
Calls������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������115
Call Stack����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������116
Exploring Stack in GDB�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������118
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������121

Chapter 10: Frame Pointer and Local Variables�������������������������������123


Stack Usage������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������123
Register Review������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������124
Addressing Array Elements�������������������������������������������������������������������������������124
Stack Structure (No Function Parameters)�������������������������������������������������������126
Function Prolog�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������127
Raw Stack (No Local Variables and Function Parameters)�������������������������������127
Function Epilog�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������129

vi
Table of Contents

“Local Variables” Project����������������������������������������������������������������������������������130


Disassembly of Optimized Executable��������������������������������������������������������������133
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������134

Chapter 11: Function Parameters�����������������������������������������������������135


“FunctionParameters” Project��������������������������������������������������������������������������135
Stack Structure�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������136
Function Prolog and Epilog�������������������������������������������������������������������������������138
Project Disassembled Code with Comments����������������������������������������������������139
Parameter Mismatch Problem��������������������������������������������������������������������������144
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������145

Chapter 12: More Instructions����������������������������������������������������������147


PSTATE Flags�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������147
Testing for 0������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������147
TST – Logical Compare�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������148
CMP – Compare Two Operands�������������������������������������������������������������������������149
TST or CMP?�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������150
Conditional Jumps��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������150
Function Return Value���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������151
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������152

Chapter 13: Function Pointer Parameters����������������������������������������153


“FunctionPointerParameters” Project���������������������������������������������������������������153
Commented Disassembly���������������������������������������������������������������������������������154
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������161

vii
Table of Contents

Chapter 14: Summary of Code Disassembly Patterns����������������������163


Function Prolog/Epilog��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������163
ADR (Address)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������164
Passing Parameters������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������164
Accessing Saved Parameters and Local Variables��������������������������������������������165
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������166

Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������167

viii
About the Author
Dmitry Vostokov is an internationally
recognized expert, speaker, educator, scientist,
and author. He is the founder of the pattern-
oriented software diagnostics, forensics,
and prognostics discipline and Software
Diagnostics Institute (DA+TA: DumpAnalysis.
org + TraceAnalysis.org). Vostokov has also
authored more than 50 books on software
diagnostics, anomaly detection and analysis,
software and memory forensics, root cause analysis and problem solving,
memory dump analysis, debugging, software trace and log analysis,
reverse engineering, and malware analysis. He has more than 25 years
of experience in software architecture, design, development, and
maintenance in various industries, including leadership, technical, and
people management roles. Dmitry also founded Syndromatix, Anolog.
io, BriteTrace, DiaThings, Logtellect, OpenTask Iterative and Incremental
Publishing (OpenTask.com), Software Diagnostics Technology and
Services (former Memory Dump Analysis Services; PatternDiagnostics.
com), and Software Prognostics. In his spare time, he presents various
topics on Debugging TV and explores Software Narratology, its further
development as Narratology of Things and Diagnostics of Things (DoT),
Software Pathology, and Quantum Software Diagnostics. His current
areas of interest are theoretical software diagnostics and its mathematical
and computer science foundations, application of formal logic, artificial
intelligence, machine learning and data mining to diagnostics and anomaly
detection, software diagnostics engineering and diagnostics-driven

ix
About the Author

development, and diagnostics workflow and interaction. Recent areas


of interest also include cloud native computing, security, automation,
functional programming, and applications of category theory to software
development and big data.

x
About the Technical Reviewer
Sundar Pandian has more than three
years of experience in embedded software
development, including development of device
drivers, middleware software, and application
services for the infotainment system on the
Android platform. He’s also developed CAN
protocol drivers for the automotive braking
system on the Autosar platform.
He’s developed software with C, C++,
and Java and worked in the automotive,
semiconductor, and telecom industries. He has
a bachelor’s in electronics and communication engineering. Currently, he
serves as a firmware/middleware engineer for audio DSPs.

xi
Preface
The book covers topics ranging from ARM64 assembly language
instructions and writing programs in assembly language to pointers, live
debugging, and static binary analysis of compiled C and C++ code.
Diagnostics of core memory dumps, live and postmortem debugging
of Linux applications, services, and systems, memory forensics, malware,
and vulnerability analysis require an understanding of ARM64 assembly
language and how C and C++ compilers generate code, including
memory layout and pointers. This book is about background knowledge
and practical foundations that are needed to understand internal Linux
program structure and behavior, start working with the GDB debugger, and
use it for disassembly and reversing. It consists of practical step-by-step
exercises of increasing complexity with explanations and many diagrams,
including some necessary background topics.
By the end of the book, you will have a solid understanding of how
Linux C and C++ compilers generate binary code. In addition, you will be
able to analyze such code confidently, understand stack memory usage,
and reconstruct original C/C++ code.
The book will be useful for

• Software support and escalation engineers, cloud


security engineers, SRE, and DevSecOps

• Software engineers coming from JVM background

• Software testers

• Engineers coming from non-Linux environments, for


example, Windows or Mac OS X

xiii
Preface

• Engineers coming from non-ARM environments, for


example, x86/x64

• Linux C/C++ software engineers without assembly


language background

• Security researchers without assembly language


background

• Beginners learning Linux software reverse engineering


techniques

This book can also be used as an ARM64 assembly language and Linux
debugging supplement for relevant undergraduate-level courses.

Source Code
All source code used in this book can be downloaded from ­github.com/
apress/arm64-linux-debugging-disassembling-reversing.

xiv
CHAPTER 1

Memory, Registers,
and Simple Arithmetic
 emory and Registers Inside an
M
Idealized Computer
Computer memory consists of a sequence of memory cells, and each cell
has a unique address (location). Every cell contains a “number.” We refer
to these “numbers” as contents at addresses (locations). Because memory
access is slower than arithmetic instructions, there are so-called registers
to speed up complex operations that require memory to store temporary
results. We can also think about them as stand-alone memory cells. The
name of a register is its address. Figure 1-1 illustrates this.

© Dmitry Vostokov 2023 1


D. Vostokov, Foundations of ARM64 Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9082-8_1
Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
and often seeming purplish or puce-coloured rather than green. It
would be too soft to make a good touchstone, and is disposed to
disintegrate when exposed to severe climatic conditions. Thus on the
façade of S. Miniato a Monte on the hill facing the north it is far more
weathered than on the Duomo or Campanile below. For the quarries
of it and its use see the Note, postea, p. 127. E, as above, shows a
characteristic piece kindly lent from his collection by Professor
Bonney.
(f) Lastly there is the red marble used in bands on the Campanile
and Duomo. For this also see the Note p. 128.

TUSCAN MARBLE QUARRIES.

[See §§ 5, 9, 97, 99, etc.]


The best work on the subject of Italian stones is that by Jervis, I
Tesori Sotterranei dell’ Italia, Torino, 1889, and a considerable
amount of information is contained in the local articles in E.
Repetti’s Dizionario geographico, etc., della Toscana, Firenze, 1839,
and also in the Official Catalogue of the Italian section in the London
International Exhibition of 1862. In connection with investigations
which we have had to make on all this subject of the stones, we have
to acknowledge with all gratitude the expert aid kindly afforded by
Professors Bonney of Cambridge and Geikie of Edinburgh, as well as
the valuable local assistance and information kindly given to us by
Professor Enrico Bonanni of Carrara and the representatives of the
firm Henraux et Cie of Seravezza, the owners of the Monte Altissimo
quarries presently to be mentioned. From both these sources we
have obtained knowledge which we could not otherwise have
compassed, and we desire again to express our obligations to Mr W.
Brindley, who is as well known in the Carrara district as in London,
and who gave us these introductions as well as much technical
information.
The quarries mentioned by Vasari are named in the accompanying
table, where there are also indications of the kinds of stone he
signalizes as their products. It must of course be understood that
extensive quarries generally produce more than one kind of stone, as
Vasari notes in the case of the Carrara quarries in § 9, and again in
‘Painting’ § 97, where he speaks of variegated marbles alternating
with the white.
The principal deposits of marble are those in the Carrara district,
in the mountains called the Apuan Alps near the sea coast between
Pisa and Spezia. The marbles of the district have been exploited since
the time of the Romans, under the name of marbles of Luna or Luni.
The site of the Etrusco-Roman town of Luni is a little south of the
railway line, about half way between Avenza-Carrara and Sarzana,
and traces of the Roman workings are observable in many of the
present quarries. The industry received a notable impulse at the
great artistic epoch of the Renaissance. Duke Cosimo de’ Medici gave
considerable attention to the exploitation of this form of mineral
wealth, as was also the case with the metal-producing mines (ante, p.
112). He opened new quarries in the Pietrasanta district of the Apuan
Alps, and also gave special attention to the quarries in the Pisan
Mountains, between Pisa and Lucca, and to facilitating the transport
of the material from the hills to the former town.
The special quarries of which the town of Carrara is the centre and
dépôt are the oldest and the most prolific, and a useful local guide to
Carrara gives a long list of the effective ones in their different groups,
with their respective products. Of these, that which has furnished the
finest statuary marble in the largest blocks is the quarry of Polvaccio,
in the Ravaccione valley under Monte Sagro, one of the culminating
points of the ridge of the Apuan Alps. See the sketch map, Fig. 10.
Vasari (ante, p. 46) specially praises the Polvaccio marbles, as being
free from the veins and flaws so tiresome to the sculptor. There are
now other localities in the district that furnish as good pieces as
Polvaccio.
There is another important centre a little to the south-east, that is
of more interest in the present connection. This is Pietrasanta, which
is the emporium for the quarries of Seravezza several times
mentioned by Vasari, and those of Stazzema, a little further up
among the hills.
The Seravezza district is quite apart from that of Carrara, and the
little town in question nestles in the folds of the ridges that descend
from Monte Altissimo, the culminating point next to the south from
Monte Sagro, both peaks being between 5 and 6,000 feet high. Both
districts are rich in memories of Michelangelo. About his work at
Carrara there is more than one published treatise, as for example
Carlo Frediani’s Ragionamento Storico, 2nd Ed., Siena, 1875, while
in connection with his proceedings at Seravezza, and especially the
identification of localities mentioned in his correspondence and
memoranda, MM. Henraux have furnished us with some first-hand
information. Both at Carrara and at Pietrasanta inscriptions indicate
houses where he lodged on his visits to the localities. Carrara was his
first love, and when charged by Leo X in 1516 with the work at S.
Lorenzo at Florence he betook himself thither for marbles. Vasari, in
his Life of Michelangelo, Opere, ed. Milanesi, VII, 189, tells us how
while he was there he received a letter from the Pope bidding him
turn his attention rather to the Seravezza district, which was actually
in Tuscan territory, whereas Carrara was in the principality of
Massa-Carrara, and at the time under the rule of the Marchese
Alberigo, who was Michelangelo’s friend.

Fig. 10.—Sketch map of the marble-producing districts of the Apuan Alps.


Repetti has published documents of the year 1515, which show that
at that date the Commune of Seravezza resolved to make a donation
to the Florentine people of the right to quarry in the cliffs of Monte
Altissimo, in which it is said, ‘there are supposed to be mines and
quarries of marble’ (in quibus dicitur esse cava et mineria pro
marmoribus cavendis), and also of the ground necessary for making
a road for transport. This was the cause of the Pope’s orders to
Michelangelo, which Vasari says he obeyed with great reluctance. In
the invaluable ‘Contratti’ and ‘Ricordi,’ which G. Milanesi has printed
in his volume of Michelangelo’s Lettere (Firenze, 1875), we find
Buonarroti in 1516–7 at Carrara, getting material from the Polvaccio
quarry, but at the beginning of 1518 he notes (Lettere, p. 566) ‘Andai
a cavare a Pietra Santa e fecivi l’avviamento (the start) che oggi si
vede fatto,’ and from this time his chief work was beneath the wild
cliffs of Monte Altissimo (ibid., p. 573 f.). A memorandum of a later
date (Lettere, p. 580) thus worded, ‘a dì circa venticinque di febraio
nel mille cinquecento diciassette (our 1518) ... non mi possendo
servire a Carrara di detti marmi, mi missi a fare cavare nelle
montagnie di Seraveza, villa di Pietra Santa, dove inanzi non era
mai più stato cavato,’ shows that this was pioneer work. The
contract made at Pietrasanta on March 15, 1518, for the work of
quarrying (Lettere, p. 673) indicates that the locality was the gorge of
the Serra, which runs up northward from Seravezza to the heart of
the mountains. Two localities are mentioned, one, ‘Finochiaia sive
Transvaserra,’ and another opposite to this, ‘dirimpetto et riscontro,’
called ‘alla Cappella.’ The first place is now called ‘Trambiserra,’ and
will be seen on the sketch map on the west of the gorge with ‘la
Cappella’ over against it on the east. Another contract of April 14 in
the same year mentions quarrying projected ‘a l’ Altissimo’ in a
locality called ‘a la Piastra di verso Strettoia sive Antognia.’ There is a
Strettoia on the lower hills west of Seravezza, but that the operations
in question were really higher up the gorge among the very cliffs of
Monte Altissimo is proved by a letter of later date from Vincenzio
Danti to Duke Francesco de’ Medici (July 2, 1568; Gaye, Carteggio,
III, 254), who reports that he examined the old workings and road of
Michelangelo ‘al Altissimo,’ and mentions various localities, ‘la
Polla,’ ‘Costa dei Cani,’ etc., the sites of which are at the head of the
valley as shown on the map. ‘La Polla’ means the water-head.
Moreover, in a letter from Seravezza dated August, 1518, Lettere, p.
394, Michelangelo speaks of the road for the transport of the marbles
as being nearly finished, though in three places rocks had still to be
cut away. The places are ‘a Rimagno,’ ‘poco passato Rimagno per
andare a Seraveza,’ and ‘a l’ ultime case di Seravezza, andando verso
la Corvara.’ The places are marked on the sketch map. Marbles from
any part of the upper gorge of the Serra would have to be brought
past Rimagno on their way down, and we therefore see that
Michelangelo exploited to some extent the actual marbles of the
Altissimo, which for the last half century have furnished the very
finest and most costly statuary marble of the whole Apuan Alps, Mr
Brindley says, of the whole world. The existing quarries are under the
serrated peaks of Monte Altissimo, at an elevation of some 3 to 4,000
feet, and the marbles are now brought down in trolleys sliding along
a rope stretched across the valley and mounting to the highest levels.
It is believed locally that the workings called ‘Vincarella’ are some of
the first opened by Michelangelo, and from somewhere at any rate
among these cliffs, in the latter part of 1518, by the agency of some
skilled workmen who had been sent from Settignano as well as local
hands, and by means of ropes and windlasses and sledges,
Michelangelo was letting down a column, which however fell and was
broken.
A letter from Seravezza of April 20, 1519, Lettere, p. 403, gives
details of the accident, which was due to the fracture of a defective
ring of iron, and he says, ‘Siàno stati a un grandissimo pericolo della
vita tutti che eravamo attorno: e èssi guasto una mirabil pietra.’ No
wonder he records in a memorandum that he subsequently left
Pietrasanta ill, and that he exclaims in a postscript to a letter of April
1518, Lettere, p. 138, ‘Oh, cursed a thousand times be the day and the
hour when I quitted Carrara!’
The Monte Altissimo quarries are situated in a scene that to us to-
day is sufficiently wild, though the modern lover of the mountains
finds it full of an austere beauty. To Michelangelo, who was fretting
at his enforced loss of time and in no mood to surrender himself to
the influences of nature, it was a savage and inhospitable country. He
writes from Seravezza to Florence in August 1518, (Lettere, p. 394),
‘The place where we have to quarry here is very rugged (molto
aspro), and the men are very unskilled in such work: nevertheless we
must have much patience for several months till the mountains are
tamed and the men are instructed. Afterwards we shall go on more
quickly: it is enough that what I have promised, that will I at all costs
perform, and I will do the finest work that has ever yet been
accomplished in Italy, if God be my aid!’ As a fact it was 1521 before
the first column for the façade of S. Lorenzo arrived in Florence, the
rest, as Vasari says, (ante, p. 47 and Opere, VII, p. 190) remained in
the quarries or by the seashore, and the ‘finest work’ was never even
begun. MM. Henraux state that they know of no traces of the
columns said to have been left thus ‘on the sea shore’ (by Forte dei
Marmi) but they possess a piece of a fractured column found near
the site of Michelangelo’s supposed workings at ‘la Polla.’
At the death of Pope Leo nothing had been accomplished but the
foundations of the façade, and the transport of a great column from
Seravezza to the Piazza di S. Lorenzo! For nearly thirty years after
this time the quarries of this district were almost deserted, and the
roads which Michelangelo had begun were not completed.
At a later period however Duke Cosimo I paid special attention to
the quarries of the Seravezza region, and had a casino or summer
residence built here for himself by Ammanati, now termed ‘Il
Palazzo,’ and the residence of the Mayor. A commissioner was
established at Pietrasanta as the metropolis of the district, to
supervise the workings. In the ‘Introduction’ to Painting at Chapter
XVI, § 99, postea, p. 261, Vasari gives us an interesting notice of the
opening of some new quarries in 1563 near the village of Stazzema,
which lies behind the mountains which overhang Pietrasanta, and is
approached from Seravezza up the Versiglia, or the gorge of the river
Vezza. The road, of which he speaks in this place (p. 261) as in course
of making, he mentions in some of his letters of 1564, and also in the
Life of Michelangelo, but he gives no indication of its course. It was
probably the road from Seravezza across the marsh-land to the sea, a
more troublesome affair than roads along mountain valleys.
As regards the products of all these quarries of the Apuan Alps,
statuary marble occurs as we have seen in many places, and it is
found, where it occurs, in compact masses or nodules embedded in
and flanked by marbles impure in colour and streaked and
variegated in divers fashions. A vast amount of the marble quarried
in the hills is what the quarrymen call ‘Ordinario,’ and is of a grey
hue and often streaked with veins, which when well marked give it a
new value as ‘fiorito,’ or ‘flowered.’ Of a more decided grey is the
prized marble called ‘Bardiglio,’ which is the kind furnished by the
‘alla Cappella’ quarries. Bardiglio again may be ‘fiorito.’ These
correspond to the ‘three sorts of marble that come from the
mountains of Carrara’ of which Vasari writes in § 97, postea, p. 259,
‘one of which is of a pure and dazzling white, the other not white but
of a livid hue, while the third is a grey marble (marmo bigio) of a
silvery tint.’ The white and the grey are shown in the coloured
drawing at J and K.
More decidedly variegated are the marbles known as ‘Mischi’ or
‘Breccias,’ and of these the Stazzema quarries yield the chief supply.
The ‘Mischio di Seravezza’ of which Vasari writes in a letter, Gaye, III,
164, was from this locality, and so too the ‘Mischi’ mentioned in §§ 5,
9, ante, pp. 37, 45, of which some are ‘Mischiati di rosso.’ C and D as
above show characteristic specimens of Breccias of Stazzema.
Repetti, art. ‘Stazzema,’ says that the ‘Bardigli fioriti’ and Breccias of
Stazzema are generally known as ‘Mischi da Seravezza.’
It should be mentioned that Massa, between Carrara and
Pietrasanta, is also a quarry centre of importance.
Leaving the Apuan Alps, the next marble-producing locality we
come to on descending the coast is that of the Monti Pisani, the
range of hills separating the territories of Pisa and Lucca. Monte S.
Giuliano is on the road between the two cities, and there are quarries
near Bagni S. Giuliano about six kilometres from Pisa. It will be seen
that Vasari (ante, p. 50) speaks favourably of this marble, and Mr W.
Brindley thinks this notice in Vasari is of special interest, as he
reports of this marble that ‘for durability and delicate honey-tint it is
superior to Carrara.’ The local term ‘ceroide’ ‘wax-like’ used for this
stone conveys the same idea. It was used at Lucca as well as on Pisan
buildings. From the same quarries come red and veined marbles and
Breccias and ‘Mischi’ (Torelli, Statistica della Provincia di Pisa, Pisa,
1863).
The exploitation of these marbles was rendered difficult at Pisa by
the marshy nature of the ground at the foot of the hills which
impeded transport, and Duke Cosimo set himself to find a remedy.
He took up the question of drainage and regulation of watercourses
in what is called the ‘pianura di Pisa,’ and among the forty medals
struck to celebrate his various achievements were some for ‘Clima
Pisano Risanato.’ In 1545 an ‘Uffizio dei fossi’ was constituted, and
the modern hydraulic system which has done so much to benefit this
region, dates from these measures of Cosimo. Vasari, § 11, ante, p.
50, speaks of a river ‘Osoli’ the course of which was straightened and
confined. This is probably a mistake for ‘Oseri’ or ‘Osari,’ names
applying to one of the small streams close to Pisa in the direction of
the quarries. Targioni Tozzetti in his Viaggi in Toscana has a long
discussion on this river, the Auser of the ancients, for which he gives
the modern equivalents ‘Oseri,’ or ‘Osoli’ (the latter probably derived
from this passage in Vasari). There is a ‘Fossa dell’ Oseretto’ to the
west of the city. These straightened watercourses facilitated the
transport of the stone in barges.
Continuing southwards along the coast we come to some marble
quarries mentioned by Vasari on the promontory of Piombino,
opposite the island of Elba. The locality Vasari names is Campiglia (§
10, ante, p. 50) but the whole of Monte Calvi above that town is
marble-bearing, and the products were said to be as good in quality
as those of the Carrara district (Torelli, l.c., p. xc). Vasari says that
the Campiglia marbles are excellent for building purposes, and
Repetti asserts that in the fifteenth century, for the cupola of S.
Maria del Fiore, more marble was used from this region than from
Carrara itself. The ancient reputation of the district is not however
now maintained.
Hitherto all the marbles used for building purposes that Vasari has
mentioned have been white or variegated, but everyone who has
visited the Tuscan cities knows that the decorative effect of the
buildings depends on the juxtaposition of bands of white and of
black, or at any rate, dark marble, with occasional bands of red. The
dark marbles come chiefly from the neighbourhood of Prato, and this
introduces us to a group of inland quarries within a few miles of
Florence to the north and also to the south and east. Vasari does not
say much about this dark stone, which was however of the utmost
importance in Tuscan architecture. It is commonly called Prato
Serpentine, or ‘Verde di Prato,’ and the quarries at Monte Ferrato, by
Figline, three miles north of Prato, produce it of the finest quality.
The Figline quarries are reported on by Professor Bonney in a paper
on ‘Ligurian and Tuscan Serpentines’ in the Geological Magazine for
1879. He has kindly lent us the specimen from the quarry figured as
E on the Frontispiece. This stone is of a deep green colour, tending
sometimes towards a purple or puce tint. Stone of much the same
character is found, as Vasari states, near the Impruneta, six or seven
miles east of Florence. It is this Prato Serpentine that has been so
largely used from the twelfth century to the fifteenth in Tuscany for
alternating with the white marbles in the incrustation of façades.
There are deposits of the same stone in the Pisan mountains. The
same stone was sometimes used for decorative stone work in
connection with sepulchral monuments. According to Vasari
however, ante, p. 42 f., it was the ‘paragone’ or dark limestone of
Prato that was chiefly employed for this purpose.
If Vasari’s information about this important stone, and his interest
in it, seem scanty, it must be borne in mind that it was a mediaeval
material rather than a Renaissance one. We find it on the churches
and bell towers and baptistries of the twelfth and following centuries,
but not on the palaces of the fifteenth and sixteenth. Hence the stone
was not so interesting in Vasari’s eyes as it is in ours.
Finally, the red stone seen in bands on the Duomo and the
Campanile at Florence, that Vasari calls ‘marmo rosso’ (ante, p. 43),
is not fully crystalline and is rather a limestone than a marble. It is
deep red when quarried, but on the buildings has bleached to a pinky
hue from exposure to the air. It is apt to scale, but this is partly due
to its not being laid on its proper bed. The specimens F F on the
coloured plate show the smoothed external surface bleached light by
exposure. We are informed by Signor Cellerini, the experienced
capomaestro of the Opera del Duomo at Florence, that in old time
this stone was quarried at Monsummano, at the northern extremity
of the Monte Albano not far from Pistoja. A more modern source of
supply is the Tuscan Maremma, where the stone, called ‘Porta Santa,’
is quarried between Pisa and Grosseto, near Gavorrano. From this
place the stone has been brought for recent use on the new façade of
the Duomo at Florence.
Other Tuscan marbles, such as those of Siena, that are not referred
to by Vasari, are not noticed in this place.

THE ROUND TEMPLE ON THE PIAZZA S. LUIGI DEI


FRANCESI, AND ‘MAESTRO GIAN.’
[See § 12, Of Travertine, ante, p. 51 f.]
It is surprising that practically nothing appears to be known, either
about the French sculptor mentioned here, ‘Maestro Gian’ (or Jean),
or about the French wood carver of the same name called by Vasari
‘Maestro Janni,’ who is referred to at the close of the ‘Introduction’ to
Sculpture, postea, p. 174. Equally strange is it that their works, which
Vasari describes in terms of high praise, and which are in public view
in Rome and in Florence, do not seem to have attracted attention
among students either of French art or of Italian. The standard older
book on French artists abroad, Dussieux, Les Artistes Français à
l’Étranger, Paris, 1856, takes no note of either of them, nor are they
referred to in Bérard’s Dictionnaire Biographique des Artistes
Français du XII au XVII Siècle, Paris, 1872. In the more recent
Italian work however by A. Bertolotti, Artisti Francesi in Roma nei
Secoli XV, XVI, e XVII, Mantova, 1886, there is a mention on p. 220
of ‘un Giovanni Chavenier, che forse disegno quel tempio tondo,
attribuito dal Vasari all’ architetto Jean,’ and on p. 24 it is said that
‘Giovanni Chiavier, o Chavenier, di Rouen lavorò pel Governo
pontificio e morì a Roma nel 1527.’ Bertolotti unfortunately gives no
references to his authorities, while the work of Müntz, Les Arts à la
Cour des Papes breaks off before the sixteenth century, and gives no
help.

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.
CHIEF
DISTRICT. QUARRIES. PRODUCTS.
PLACE.
(p. 37
Carrara in
[Apuan Alps] Carrara Breccias f.)
general
(C.D.)
(p. 45)
Monti di Luni [Bardigli]
(K.)
(p. 42)
Garfagnana Paragone
(P.)
White Statuary
Black
‘Saligni’ (p. 45)
‘Campanini’
Mischiati
(pp.
36,
Cippollino
49)
(H.)
Best Statuary
Marble
„ Polvaccio in (p. 46)
largest
blocks
[Monte Columns for S.
„ Pietrasanta Altissim Lorenz (p. 46)
o, o
‘Campanini,’
‘Saligni
Alla Cappella, ,’
Seravezza (p. 50)
etc.] coarse
marble
s
Statuary
Marble
(p.
(not
Stazzema 261)
now
(C.D.)
obtain
ed)
Mischi
(Brecci
as)
Fine White
Marble
, used
Monte S. on
[Monti Pisani] Pisa (p. 50)
Giuliano Duom
o &
Campo
-Santo
[Tuscan [Red
[Caldana di
Marem Gavorrano Limest
Ravi]
ma] one]
Coarse
Marble
[Promontory s,
opposite [Piombino] Campiglia suited (p. 50)
Elba] for
buildin
g
Red Marble
(limest
one)
on (p. 43)
[Monte Albano] [Pistoja] [Monsummano]
Duom (F.)
o,
Floren
ce
Marmo Nero
[Verde
Neighbourhood
di
of
Prato]
Florenc [Monte Ferrato, (p. 43)
Prato on
e, Figline] (E.)
Duom
o,
Floren
North ce
Paragone
(limest
one) (p. 42)
3 m. N. of Prato
for (P.)
monu
ments
East Impruneta
7 m. E. of
Flore Breccias (p. 37)
nce
Monte
Rant
oli
betwe
S. Giusto or
en
South [Monte Breccias (p. 37)
valley
Martiri]
s of
Ema
and
Greve

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.

RUSTICATED MASONRY.

[See § 20, Rusticated Masonry and the Tuscan Order, ante, p. 65.]
In masonry of this kind the sides of the stones, where they come
into contact with each other, are dressed smooth, but the face of each
stone is left to project beyond the plane of the wall. The projections
may be rough and irregular, in which case the appearance is that of
natural stones, and a rugged rock-like aspect is given to the wall-face.
The projections may however be wrought into bosses of regular form,
or into the diamonds and facets of which Vasari goes on to speak,
and of which a notable example is the so-called ‘Palazzo de’
Diamanti’ at Ferrara.
This method of treating stones, at least when they are left rough
and irregular, saves time and labour, and hence it has been in use
among many ancient peoples, but almost always for substructures
and parts not meant to be seen. The Romans made a more extensive
employment of it, and we find it not only on sustaining walls, such as
those of the Hadrianic platform of the Olympeion at Athens, but on
monumental wall-faces, as on the enclosing wall of the Forum of
Augustus near the Arco dei Pantani at Rome, one of the finest extant
specimens of Roman masonry but still utilitarian in character. The
deliberate use of rustication, as an element of artistic effect, on the
façade of a public building, is another matter, and it is doubtful if any
instance of this occurs before the Italian Renaissance. There is a
piece of Roman rusticated masonry behind the ancient theatre at
Fiesole, the classical Faesolae, and Professor Durm thought at one
time that the Florentine builders might have derived from this their
idea of using the device as a means of expression in stonework. It
may be questioned however whether this was visible at all in the
fifteenth century, and it is much more likely that Renaissance
rustication was a natural development from the treatment of the wall
in many mediaeval Tuscan buildings, in which the surface of the
stones is left to project in an irregular undesigned fashion. The
Palazzo Vecchio and the Gothic Palazzo Alessandri at Florence are
examples. In any case, in the hands of the architects of the
Renaissance rustication became an important element in the
architectural style of the period, and is one of the special
contributions of this style to architecture at large.
Plate VI

SALAMANDER CARVED IN TRAVERTINE

On the façade of S. Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, by a


French artist, ‘Maestro Gian’

Rustication has two artistic advantages. In the first place, it


emphasizes the separate stones in an assemblage, and when these
are of great size and boldly hewn, as at the Pitti Palace at Florence,
the work gains in dignity through this individualizing of the distinct
units of the structure. The bossed surface of some of the blocks at the
Pitti stands out as much as three feet from the wall, and one of the
stones is twenty eight feet in length. In the second place, this rustic
treatment gives a look of rugged strength that is very effective,
especially on the lower stages of monumental buildings, where
indeed the treatment is most in place. The façade of Michelozzo’s
Riccardi Palace, which Vasari refers to under its older name the ‘Casa
Medici’ is epoch-making in its fine handling of rustication in degrees
according to the stages of the elevation.
It needs hardly to be said that the elaborately cut facets which
Vasari finds so beautiful, and of which we have seen an example in
Fig. 4, ante, p. 69, are too artificial to be reckoned in good
architectural style. It was a common practice, when the stones
themselves were not all of the same size, to cut these diamonds and
other geometrical forms in independence of the joints of the
masonry, so that a facet might be half on one stone and half on
another. As this ignores the individuality of the blocks, which the
simpler rustication so effectually emphasizes, it is by no means to be
commended. Vasari’s last sentences in § 20, about this treatment of
stonework in general, are excellent. The rustication on the Fortezza,
shown in Fig. 4 is sincere, in that the jointing corresponds with the
design.

VASARI’S OPINION ON MEDIAEVAL ARCHITECTURE.

[See § 28, German Work (the Gothic Style), ante, p. 83.]


Vasari’s tirade against the iniquities of the mediaeval mason is of
historical interest as reflecting the ideas of his age, but need not now
be taken seriously. The reason why he writes of it as ‘German’ work is
to be found in the close intercourse during the whole mediaeval
period between Germany and Italy, that were nominally under the
one imperial sceptre, and were only separated by the Brenner.
‘Tedesco’ stood to the mind of the Italian for everything north of the
Alps, and though the pointed style in architecture was of French
origin it appears to have found its way into Italy through the Tyrol.
One of the first churches in this style in Italy, S. Francesco at Assisi,
was designed by a German master from Meran. But not only does
Vasari call the manner he detests ‘Tedesco,’ he expressly, in this
passage and elsewhere, ascribes it to the Goths, who, after ruining
the ancient buildings and killing off the classically trained architects,
had set to work to build with pointed arches. It is clear from this
phrase, as well as from the description he gives of the little niches
and pinnacles and leaves and the extravagant height of doors, that he
had in his mind the pointed style, that dates from about the middle
of the twelfth century. The Goths had then passed out of existence for
some six hundred years and Vasari’s chronology is hopelessly at
fault. The name ‘Gothic’ however, which he was the first to apply in
this sense, has adhered to the style ever since, and in spite of efforts
which have been made to supplant it, will probably remain always in
use, though no one will now or in the future make the mistake of
connecting it ethnologically with the historical Goths of the fifth and
sixth centuries.
The question who was actually the first to apply the term ‘Gothic’
in this sense has been a subject of controversy. Some have attributed
the invention of the term to Raphael, or the author of the Report on
the condition of Roman monuments which passes under his name;
while others have claimed the dubious honour for Cesare Cesariano,
the translator and commentator of Vitruvius. Neither of these writers
however uses the word in the sense referred to. Raphael it is true
writes of a ‘Gothic’ style in architecture which succeeded to the
classic Roman, but he makes it, quite correctly, belong to the actual
era of the Gothic conquest of Italy in the fifth century and to the
succeeding hundred years. The later mediaeval architecture Raphael
terms ‘architectura Tedesca,’ and when he writes of this he seems to
have in his view what we should rather call Lombard Romanesque,
for he blames in it the ‘strange animals and figures, and foliage out of
all reason.’ In other words Raphael, or the author of the Report,
distinctly does not commit the historical enormity of dragging the
word ‘Gothic’ six centuries out of its proper location and use.
With regard to Cesare Cesariano, this personage was born in 1483
and studied architecture under Bramante. He was of good repute,
Vasari tell us, (Opere, IV, 149) as a geometrician and architect, and at
one time he was employed as director of the works on the cathedral
of Milan, the interior of which he completed in its present form. In
1521 there was published at Como, at the charges of certain scholars
and notables of Milan and Como, an edition of Vitruvius headed ‘Di
Lucio Vitruvio Pollione a Caesare Augusto De Architectura
Incomenza Il Primo Libro. Translato In Vulgare Sermone
Commentato Et Affigurato Da Caesare Caesariano Citadino
Mediolanense Professore Di Architectura Et Ca.’ Cesariano’s
commentary is a fearsome work of appalling verbosity, but there is
nothing in it about the Goths being the originators of the pointed
style. He mentions the Goths on fol. cviii, b, but not in connection
with architecture, whereas when he does refer to late mediaeval
building he calls it not Gothic but German. On fol. xiii b and on the
succeeding pages he gives some interesting plans and drawings of the
cathedral of Milan, important in connection with the theory of the
use in Gothic design of the equilateral triangle, but distinctly notes it
as constructed by ‘Germanici architecti,’ ‘Germanico more,’ and
‘secundum Germanicam symmetriam’; while on fol. cx b he again
says that the building was in the hands of a German architect. (See
Mothes, Baukunst des Mittelalters in Italien, Jena, 1884, p. 502 ff.)
It is clear therefore that Cesare Cesariano has nothing to do with the
use of ‘Gothic’ as an architectural term, and his name need not be
mentioned in this connection.
Filarete’s Trattato dell’ Architettura, dating about 1464, is not the
source of the usage, and as far as can be seen at present the credit, if
it be such, of the invention of the term ‘Gothic’ rests with Vasari.

EGG-SHELL MOSAIC.

[See § 33, Pictorial Mosaics for Walls, etc., ante, p. 93.]


This reference on the part of Vasari to ‘musaico di gusci d’ uovo,’
‘mosaic of egg-shells,’ is puzzling. In his Life of Gaddo Gaddi (Opere,
I, 348) he is more explicit, and states there ‘Dopo ciò, ritornò Gaddo
a Firenze, con animo di riposarsi: perchè, datosi a fare piccole
tavolette di musaico, ne condusse alcune di guscia d’ uova con
diligenza e pacienza incredibile; come si può, fra le altre, vedere in
alcune che ancor oggi sono nel tempio di San Giovanni di Firenze.’
The Lemonnier editors of Vasari added a note to this passage to
the effect that one of these small plaques, representing a Christ with
an open book in His left hand, was preserved when they wrote in the
Uffizi, and that the mosaic was ‘composed of very minute pieces of
egg-shell united together with a diligence and a patience truly
incredible.’ This piece is now in the Chapel in the Bargello and Dr
Giovanni Poggi has had the kindness to examine it minutely. He
reports that there is no sign of the use of egg-shell in it, but that it is
a finely executed mosaic of small pieces of coloured materials of a
hard substance, in all respects similar to the portable Byzantine
mosaics of which there are two notable specimens in the Opera del
Duomo at Florence (Gori, Thes. Vet. Diptychorum, III, 320 f.).
Eugène Müntz noticed various examples of this kind of work in an
article in the Bulletin Monumental, 1886, and one of them, an
‘Annunciation’ in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is a typical piece.
It is composed of tesserae of minute size of different coloured
marbles, lapis lazuli, etc., on a ground of gold formed of little cubes
of the metal, all bedded in wax or similar yielding substance. There is
no sign of the use of egg-shell, and indeed the idea of a mosaic of
pieces of egg-shell seems absurd, because there is no variety of
colour, and therefore no possibility of mosaic effect without painting
each piece some special hue.
Were it only Vasari who mentioned this supposed egg-shell mosaic
the matter might be passed over, but as a fact one of the chapters of
Cennino Cennini’s Trattato is devoted to this very subject. He there
describes, c. 172, what he calls a ‘mosaic’ of small cubes of the pith of
feathers and of egg-shells, but the technique as he explains it is not
mosaic, properly so-called, but rather an imitation of mosaic by
means of painting on a roughened ground giving something of the
effect of a ground laid with tesserae. Egg-shells are apparently
crushed down on the surface so as to give it a sort of crackled
appearance, and varieties of colour are added by the paint brush.
Vasari mentions in his life of Agnolo Gaddi, Opere, I, 643 f., that he
had seen a MS. of Cennino’s treatise, and it is possible that he
remembered the heading ‘musaico di gusci d’ uovo’ and, with his
instinct for giving a personal interest to everything, attributed to one
of his early Florentines, Gaddo Gaddi, the use of the supposed
technique. We have not been able to hear of any extant piece of work
corresponding to Cennino’s description, though we have to thank
several expert authorities for kindly interesting themselves in the
matter. Cennino’s notice is appended in the original. It does not
occur in the Tambroni text.
Description of the technique in Cennino Cennini, Il Libro dell’
Arte, ed. Milanesi, Firenze, 1859, cap. clxxii.
‘Come si Lavora in Opera Musaica per adornamento di Reliquie; e del Musaico
di Bucciuoli di penne, e di Gusci d’ Uovo.
... A questa opra medesima, e molto fine, buccioli di penne tagliati molto minuti
sì come panico e tinti sì come detto ho. Ancora puoi lavorare del detto musaico in
questo modo. Togli le tue guscia d’ uovo ben peste pur bianche, e in sulla figura
disegnata campeggia, riempi e lavora sì come fussi coloriti: e poi quando hai
campeggiata la tua figura coi colori propii da cassetta, e temperati con un poco di
chiara d’ uovo, va’ colorendo la figura di parte in parte, sì come facessi in su lo
’ngessato propio, pur d’ acquerelle di colori; e poi quando è secco, vernica sì come
vernici l’altre cose in tavola. Per campeggiare le dette figure, sì come fai in muro, a
te conviene pigliare questo partito, di toglier fogliette dorate, o arientate, o oro
grosso battuto o ariento grosso battuto: taglialo minutissimo, e colle dette mollette
va’ campeggiando a modo che campeggi i tuoi gusci pesti, dove il campo richiede
oro. Ancora, campeggiare di gusci bianchi il campo; bagnare di chiara d’ uovo
battuta, di quella che metti il tuo oro in sul vetro; bagna della medesima; metti il
tuo oro come trae il campo; lascia asciugare, e brunisci con bambagia. E questo
basti alla detta opera musaica, o vuoi greca.’

IDEAL ARCHITECTURE; AN IDEAL PALACE.

[See § 35, An Ideal Palace, ante, p. 96.]


The construction—in words—of an imaginary mansion of the type
suited to the ideas of the Renaissance was a favourite exercise among
both professional and amateur writers, and Vasari might have made
a greater effort than he has done to rise to the height of his subject.
The theme had some significance. The intent of those who dealt with
it was to provide the man of the Renaissance with a fit setting for his
life, and the spacious and lordly palace corresponded to the
amplitude of the personality developed by the humanistic culture of
the age. The representative man of the Renaissance may have missed
certain of the higher ethical qualities, but he was many-sided, in
mind and person a finely developed creature, self-reliant, instinct
with vigour and set on mastery. Such a being demanded space and
opulence with an air of greatness in his habitation, and fitly to house
him was a task calling forth all the powers of the architects of the
period. An imposing façade with heraldic achievements should
proclaim his worth, wide gateways and roomy courts and loggie give
an impression of lordly ease, broad staircases and ample halls
suggest the coming and going of companies of guests. He would need
a garden, where marble seats in ilex shades or in grottoes beside cool
fountains should await him in hours when reflection or reading,
music or conversation, called him awhile from keen conflict of wit or
policy with his peers in the world outside. He would exact moreover
that over all the place Art should breathe a spell to soothe the senses
and to flatter pride; art sumptuous in materials, accomplished in
technique, pagan in form and spirit, should people the galleries with
sculptured shapes, cover walls and roof with graceful imagery, and
set here and there on cabinet or console some jewel of carved ivory
or gilded wood or chiselled bronze.
All the great architects of the Renaissance were at work on these
palaces first at Florence and then in every rich Italian town, but the
actual achievement that circumstances allowed fell far short of the
ideal perfection, the effort after which was the best spiritual product
of the Renaissance. Hence it became the fashion to draw out
visionary schemes of princely dwellings, and even of whole city
quarters for the setting of these, and ideal architecture furnishes
matter for a chapter in the art history of the times. Filarete’s Trattato
dell’ Architettura is full of matter of the kind. In his eighth Book he
describes a palace for a prince, in Book eleven an ideal mansion for a
nobleman; and his proposed arrangements are all on a grandiose
scale. Ammanati, who built the Ponte della Trinità at Florence, left a
whole collection of drawings for a ‘Città Ideale,’ and Leonardo da
Vinci’s codices are fertile in similar suggestions. In France, where
this phase of the artistic activity of the Renaissance was as much in
evidence as in Italy, the actual palaces of king or noble were far
outdone in splendour and in symmetry by the schemes of Palissy or
De l’Orme, of which Baron de Geymüller has given an interesting
notice in his Baukunst der Renaissance in Frankreich, published in
the Handbuch der Architectur.
Nor was it only the professed artists who occupied themselves in
this fashion. It was a literary exercise to scheme out in vague and
general outlines the ideal habitation for prince or for community,
and Rabelais’ Abbey of Theleme, with its nine thousand three
hundred and thirty two rooms, its libraries, theatres, and recreation
halls, is the most famous example of its kind. In our own literature
too there must not be forgotten Francis Bacon’s Essay on Building, in
which he draws out the general configuration of what he calls a
‘perfect palace,’ where the façade is in two wings ‘uniform without,
though severally partitioned within,’ and these are to be ‘on both
sides of a great and stately tower, in the midst of the front; that as it
were joineth them together on either hand.’ Symmetry is of course
the characteristic of all these ideal structures, as it was long ago of
the visionary temple described by Ezechiel, and Vasari’s palace is no
exception to the rule. Vasari’s description does not convey a very
clear idea of what he conceived the ideal palace would be, and he
might have done better for the theme had he not hampered himself
at the outset with the otiose comparison of the house to a human
body. This he may have derived from Filarete, who also employs the
conceit.
OF SCULPTURE
CHAPTER I. (VIII.)
What Sculpture is; how good works of Sculpture are made, and
what qualities they must possess to be esteemed perfect.

§ 36. The Nature of Sculpture.

Sculpture is an art which by removing all that is superfluous from


the material under treatment reduces it to that form designed in the
artist’s mind.[152]

§ 37. Qualities necessary for Work in the Round.

Now seeing that all figures of whatever sort, whether carved in


marble, cast in bronze, or wrought in plaster or wood, must be in
salient work in the round, and seeing too that as we walk round them
they are looked at from every side, it is clear that if we want to call
them perfect they must have many qualities. The most obvious is
that when such a figure is presented to our eyes, it should show at the
first glance the expression intended, whether pride or humility,
caprice, gaiety or melancholy—according to the personage portrayed.
It must also be balanced in all its members: that is, it must not have
long legs, a thick head, and short and deformed arms; but be well
proportioned, and from head to foot have each part conforming with
the others. In the same way, if the figure have the face of an old man,
let it have the arms, body, legs, hands, and feet of an old man, the
skeleton symmetrically ordered throughout, the muscles and sinews
and veins all in their proper places. If it have the face of a youth, it
must in like manner be round, soft and sweet in expression,
harmonious in every part. If it is not to be nude, do not let the
drapery that is to cover it be so meagre as to look thin, nor clumsy
like lumps of stone, but let the flow of the folds be so turned that they
reveal the nude beneath—and with art and grace now show now hide
it without any harshness that may detract from the figure. Let the
hair and beard be worked with a certain delicacy, arranged and
curled to show they have been combed, having the greatest softness
and grace given to them that the chisel can convey; and because the
sculptors cannot in this part actually counterfeit nature, they make
the locks of hair solid and curled, working from manner[153] rather
than in imitation of nature. Even though the figures be draped, the
feet and hands must be modelled with the care and beauty shown in
the other parts. And as the figure is in the round, it is essential that
in front, in profile, and at the back, it be of equal proportions, having
at every turn and view to show itself happily disposed throughout.
Indeed the whole work must be harmonious, and exhibit pose,
drawing and unity, grace and finish; these qualities taken together
show the natural talent and capacity of the artist.

§ 38. Works of Sculpture should be treated with a view to


their destined position.

Figures in relief as well as in painting ought to be produced with


judgement rather than in a mechanical way,[154] especially when they
are to be placed on a height, at a great distance. In this position the
finish of the last touches is lost, though the beautiful form of the
arms and legs, and the good taste displayed in the cast of drapery,
with folds not too numerous, may easily be recognized; in this
simplicity and reserve is shown the refinement of the talent. Figures
whether of marble or of bronze that stand somewhat high, must be
boldly undercut in order that the marble which is white and the
bronze which tends towards black may receive some shading from
the atmosphere, and thus the work at a distance appear to be
finished, though from near it is seen to be left only in the rough. This
was a point to which the ancients paid great attention, as we see in
their figures in the round and in half relief, in the arches and the
columns in Rome, which still testify to the great judgement they
possessed. Among the moderns, the same quality is notably exhibited
in his works by Donatello. Again, it is to be remembered, that when
statues are to be in a high position, and there is not much space
below to enable one to go far enough off to view them at a distance,
but one is forced to stand almost under them, they must be made one
head or two taller. This is done because those figures which are
placed high up lose in the foreshortening, when viewed by one
standing beneath and looking upwards. Therefore that which is
added in height comes to be consumed in the foreshortening, and
they turn out when looked at to be really in proportion, correct and
not dwarfed, nay rather full of grace. And if the artist should not
desire to do this he can keep the members of the figure rather
slender and refined, this gives almost the same effect.

§ 39. The Proportions of the Human Figure.

It is the custom of many artists to make the figure nine heads high;
dividing it in the following manner; the throat, the neck, and the
height of the foot (from the instep to the sole) are equal to one head
and the rest of the body to eight; of these, the shinbone measures two
heads, from the knee to the organs of generation two more, while the
body up to the pit of the throat is equal to three, with another from
the chin to the top of the forehead, so that there are nine in all.[155] As
to the measurements across, from the pit of the throat to the
shoulder on each side is the length of a head, and each arm to the
wrist is three heads. Thus the man with his arms stretched out
measures exactly as much as his height.

§ 40. Artists must depend on their Judgement rather than


on the Measuring Rule.

After all the eye must give the final judgement, for, even though an
object be most carefully measured, if the eye remain offended it will
not cease on that account to censure it.
Let me repeat that although measurement exercises a just control
in enlarging the figure so that the height and breadth, kept according
to rule, may make the work well proportioned and beautiful, the eye
nevertheless must decide where to take away and where to add as it
sees defect in the work, till the due proportion, grace, design and
perfection are attained, so that the work may be praised in all its
parts by every competent authority. And that statue or figure which
shall have these qualities will be perfect in beauty, in design and in
grace. Such figures we call figures ‘in the round,’ provided that all the
parts appear finished, just as one sees them in a man, when walking
round him; the same holds good of all the details which depend on
the whole. But it seems to me high time to come to the particulars of
the subject.
CHAPTER II. (IX.)
Of the manner of making Models in Wax and in Clay; how they are
draped, and how they are afterwards enlarged in proportion in
the Marble; how Marbles are worked with the point and the
toothed tool, and are rubbed with pumice stone and polished till
they are perfect.

§ 41. The small Sketch-Model in Wax or Clay.

Sculptors, when they wish to work a figure in marble, are


accustomed to make what is called a model for it in clay or wax or
plaster; that is, a pattern, about a foot high, more or less, according
as is found convenient, because they can exhibit in it the attitude and
proportion of the figure that they wish to make, endeavouring to
adapt themselves to the height and breadth of the stone quarried for
their statue.

§ 42. The Preparation of Wax.

In order to show how wax is modelled, let us first speak of the


working of wax and not of clay. To render it softer a little animal fat
and turpentine and black pitch are put into the wax, and of these
ingredients it is the fat that makes it more supple; the turpentine
adds tenacity, and the pitch gives it the black colour and a certain
consistency, so that after it has been worked and left to stand it
becomes hard. And he who would wish to make wax of another
colour, may easily do so by putting into it red earth, or vermilion or
red lead; he will thus make it of a yellowish red or some such shade;
if he add verdigris, green, and so on with the other colours. But it is
well to notice that the colours should be ground into powder and
sifted, and in this state afterwards mixed with the wax made as liquid
as possible. The wax is also made white for small things, medals,
portraits, minute scenes and other objects of bas-relief. And this is
done by mixing powdered white lead with the white wax as explained
above.

§ 43. Polychrome Wax Effigies.[156]

Nor shall I conceal that modern artists have discovered the


method of working in wax of all sorts of colours, so that in taking
portraits from the life in half relief, they make the flesh tints, the
hair, the clothes and all the other details so life-like that to these
figures there lacks nothing, as it were, but the spirit and the power of
speech.

§ 44. The Manipulation of Wax over an Armature.

But to return to the manner of preparing the wax; when the


mixture has been melted and allowed to go cold, it is made into sticks
or rolls. These from the warmth of the hands become, in the working,
like dough and are suitable for modelling a figure that is seated or
erect or as you please. To make the figure support itself, it may have
underneath the wax an armature either of wood, or of iron wires
according to the pleasure of the artist; or this can be omitted if it suit
him better. Little by little, always adding material, with judgement
and manipulation, the artist impresses the wax by means of tools
made of bone, iron, or wood, and again putting on more he alters and
refines till with the fingers the utmost finish is given to the model.

§ 45. The Small Model in Clay.

Should he wish to make his model in clay, he works exactly as with


wax, but without the armature of wood or iron underneath, because
that would cause the clay to crack open or break up;[157] and that it
may not crack while it is being worked he keeps it covered with a wet
cloth till it is completed.
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