tion to colouring, and produced, among many admirable pieces, a composition of Christ led to Calvary.

In the midst of his occupations, and the affluence which his talents had acquired, he was murdered by his servant, who, tempted by his wealth, strangled him in bed; the assassin, to avoid suspicion, threw the corpse at the door of a Messinese woman, the mistress of Caravaggio: but his precautions failed, he was discovered, and delivered into the hands of justice.

The works of Caravaggio, in the imitation in fresco of ancient basso relievos, was greater than that of any other artist his drawing was correct; a thorough knowledge of the antique, and the constant study of nature, were the principal guides of his pencil. "He was," says Fuseli, "the inventor of a style which rose and perished with him. His design was without manHe had the art of transposing

ner, compact, correct.

himself into the times, of which he represented the transactions, the costume, and rites."

Goltzius has left some engravings of his frescos.

DOMENICHINO.

DOMENICO ZAMPIERI, called Domenichino, the son of a shoemaker in Bologna, was born in 1581. His parents discovering his taste for drawing, placed him with Denis Calvart, from whom he received his first instructions; but being ill-treated by his master, he presented himself to the Caracci, whose pupil he then became.

The attention which Zampieri bestowed on correctness of drawing, and the pains which he took, incessantly erasing and correcting, caused his companions to suspect that he did not possess much genius, which they conceived, consisted in ease, rapidity, and boldness of execution. This slowness of Domenichino they ridiculed, and in derision called him the Ox. "That Ox," said Annibal, "will fertilize the fields of painting." The prediction of the master was true; the great talents of the painter were gradually developed, and his companions discovered the fallacy of their opinions. Louis Caracci encouraged frequent competition among his pupils. Domenichino, at one of their exhibitions, timidly placed his design among those of his companions; the piece was admired and preferred to those of the other pupils, who were then convinced of his superiority.

The frescos of Domenichino are superior to his oilpaintings; they possess a great freshness of colouring, except in a few instances, where they have been darkened by time. What particularly distinguishes this painter, is correctness of drawing, a pathetic style, and

a just and noble expression. Among his most celebrated pictures are the Communion of St. Jerome, and the Cure of the Demoniac Boy; his landscapes are painted in a fine style, and are numerous.

In his manners Domenichino was modest, and generally esteemed; but the latter end of his life was embittered by the jealousy of rivals. When called to Naples, to paint the chapel of the treasury in the church of St. Januarius, he experienced so much persecution from the painters of that city, that he was forced to leave it; but being recalled, and obliged to return to his labours, he was unable to finish them. He died in that city, and it was supposed by poison. The jealousy of his persecutor did not, however, cease with his death. Lanfranc, one of his disciples, took down most of Domenichino's paintings from the church of St. Januarius, and replaced them with his own; and obliged the widow and daughter of his master to restore the greater part of the money he had received.