other, composed by him, 1>, aclu matrimoniali, which contains singular opinions, is preserved in manuscript at Leipsic- Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, si, 35.
Piazza, Girolamo Bartolomeo, an Italian Do- minican friar, flourished in the first half of the 18th century. He was highly esteemed by his coreligion- ists, and was a i one time judge of the Inquisition. But the cruelty and injustice of the Roman I Itramontanists caused him to withdraw from the church of Rome. He went over to England, and was admitted into the church of England. He taught Italian and French for many years al Cambridge, and died there about 1745. He is the author of A Short and Trut Account of tfo Inqui- sition audits Proceedings, as it is Practiced in Italy, set forth in some Particular Cases (Engl, and Lr.. Lond. 1722). See Quetifand Echard, Scriptores ordinis Prat- dicationum,8. \ .
Piazza, Paolo (commonly called Padn < was horn at Castelfranco, in the Venetian territory, in 1557. lie studied under the younger Palma, and Bag- lioni commends him as one of his best pupils. He did not follow the style of his master, but adopted one of his own, which, though not distinguished by great vigor or energy, was graceful and pleasing, and gained him so much reputation that he was successively employed by pope Paul V, the emperor Rudolph II. and the doge Priuli. He executed many works, both in oil and fres- co, for the churches and public edifices at Lome, Vienna, Venice, and other places, lie was employed several years by the emperor Rudolph. Among his best works are the Descent from the Cross in the Campidoglio, and the History of Antony and Cleopatra in the Palazzo Borghese at Rome. After Piazza had acquired distinc- tion, he joined the Capuchin friars, and took the name I'm!/-, ( 'osimo, by w hich appellation he is usually known.
He died al Venice in 1621. See S] ter, / iog. HisUof
ih, Fim Arts. ii. C90.
Piazzetta, Giovanni Battista, one of the most celebrated of the later Venetian painters, was born in 1682. According to Zanetti, he was instructed in the rudiments of the art by his father, a reputable sculptor in wood, and afterward- became the pupil of Anto- nio Molinari. His first style was distinguished for a clear and brilliant tone of coloring, but on visiting Bologna he employed himself with Spagnoletto; and by diligently studying the works of Guercino, he imitated his strong contrasts ol lights and shadows, and boldness of relief, with considerable success. Lanzi says it is supposed that he had long observed the effects of lights applied to statues of wood and images of wax. and by this means be was enabled to draw with considerable judgment and exact precision the several parts that are comprehended in the shadowing; owing to which art his designs were t agerly sought alter, and his works repeatedly engraved by Pitteri, by lVlli. and bj Mo- naco, besides many other masters in Germany and elsewhere. His method of coloring, however, dimin- ished in a great measure the chief merit of his pictures. His shades have increased and changed, his lights sunk, and his tints Income yellow; so that tin re remains an inharmonious and unformed mass. There are a tV w of his pictures siill in good preservation: as the Hon of St. John tin Baptist,m the church of that saint at Padua, placed in competition with those of the first artists in the state, and at that period esteemed best of all. "Yet if we follow him closely he will not fail to displease us by that monotonous coloring ol lal yellows, and by tiial rapidity of hand called, by some, spirit, though to the judicious ii often appears nt git ct, as if the artist were desirous of abandoning his task before it was completed." He executed many chalk- draw ings w hich w ere -really valued. He also i I el nd a tew plates from his own designs. He died at Venice in 1754. See Spooner, Biog. Hist, of tfo Fim Arts, ii, 690.
Piazzi, (ai listc* an Italian painter, was born at Lodi, and flourished from 1524 to 1556, as appears from
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the dates on his pictures. According to Orlandi, he was one of the most successful imitators of Titian. Lanzi says that his picture of the Assumption of the Virgin, in the collegiate church of Codogno, is worthy of any of the disciples of Titian. It is a grand compo- sition, containing figures of the apostles, and two por- traits of the Marchesi Trivulzi. In the church of the Incoronata, at Lodi, he painted three chapels in fresco, each ornamented with four beautiful histories. One contains the Mysteries of the Passion, another the Acts of St. John the Baptist, and the third the Life of the Virgin. " It is currently believed," says Lanzi, " that Titian, in passing through Lodi, painted several of the heads — a story probably originating from the exceed- ing beauty that may be observed in them." He some- times imitated the style of Giorgione, as may be seen in his altar-piece in the church of St. Francesco at Brescia, representing the Virgin among several saints, which is esteemed one of the most beautiful produc- tions in that city. He executed many works for the churches in other cities, particularly at Crema and Al- essandria. In the cathedral of the Litter city are sev- eral of his best works. Lanzi rebukes Ridolfi, who commends him for nothing except his coloring, whereas " he boasts a very noble design, is tolerably select in his forms, and rich and harmonious in his coloring. His Wedding at Cana, in the refectory of the Padri Cis- terciensi, at Milan, is truly a surprising production, no less for its boldness of hand than for the number of its figures, which seem to live and breathe, though the whole of them are not equally well studied, and a few are really careless and incorrect." Lomazzo also, speak- ing of his Choir of the Muses — in which he introduced the portraits of the president Sacco and his wife, for whom it was painted — says, "I may, without fear of temerity, observe that it is impossible to produce any- thing more perfectly graceful and pleasing, and more beautiful in point of coloring, among works in fresco.'' See Spooner, Biog. Hist, of the Fine Arts, ii, 690.