Schiavoni, Andrea

, named Medula, an eminent artist, was born in 1522, at Sebenico, in Dalimtia. His parents, who were poor, placed him with a house-painter at Venice, where, at his leisure hours, he acquired a superior taste, by studying the etchings and compositions of Parmigiano and the works of Giorgione and Titian in the public buildings of the city. At length, Titian, being informed of his unfortunate situation and promising talents, took him under his care, and soon afterwards employed him in the library of St. Marco, where Schiavoni is said to have painted three entire cielings. Feeling. his strength, he ventured to paint, in competition with Tintoretto, a picture for the church of the Santa Croce, representing the visitation of the Virgin to Elizabeth; and though he did not equal his antagonist, yet he received a considerable share of applause. Schiavoni was accounted one of the finest colourists of the Venetian school, and to colouring sacrificed almost every other attribute of the art; yet his compositions are managed with great dexterity, and executed with astonishing freedom. Two of his most admired works are in the church of the Padri Teatini at Rimini, representing the Nativity and the Assumption of the Virgin, and his “Perseus and Andromeda,” and the “Apostles at the Sepulchre,” are in the royal collection at Windsor. He died at Venice in 1582, at the age of sixty. ²