A detailed allegorical engraving serves as a headpiece. In the center, a personification of Art or Apollo sits enthroned under a canopy, crowned with a radiant halo and holding a scepter. He is surrounded by figures representing various artistic disciplines: on the left, a woman holds a palette and brushes (Painting), accompanied by a figure with a shield; on the right, several figures appear to be engaged in study or sculpture. In the foreground, numerous putti play with artistic and scientific instruments, including a lute, a globe, and drafting tools. The scene is set within a classical architectural gallery with statues in the background.

PREFACE.

With how much zeal and industry Artists aspire to the immortality of their Name.

IT has always been a custom for those born to higher things and aspiring to the heights of honor—driven especially by the stings of fame, glory, and ambition—to exert every nerve so that they might lead the works they have set before themselves to such perfection that, through their contemplation, they might achieve the immortal glory of their Name. And although not a few have been depressed into a humble enough state of life by the hatred of stepmotherly Fortune The author personifies "Fortune" (luck) as a cruel stepmother who hinders the success of talented individuals.; yet with every effort of industry they have labored toward this: that, having conquered that same labor, they might acquire for themselves no small fame and praise through a certain kind of excellence in their virtue and studies. For they are well aware that this most praiseworthy zeal for doing well, and the long-lasting diligence applied through many sleepless nights, is not only most munificently rewarded by Kings and Princes while they are still living, but even after their departure into the Elysium original: "Elysium"; The final resting place of the heroic and the virtuous in classical mythology. of the eternity to follow, it is commended to the memory of posterity by the glorious title of monuments or statues.
Yet their works are destroyed by the injury of time.

Nevertheless, even these most glorious monuments of craftsmanship and most praiseworthy works have been so weakened and turned into illustrious ruins by that sharp tooth of gnawing time, that having often collapsed into dust and sand, they scarcely exhibit any memory of themselves at all.
When I weigh more exactly, therefore, by what means at last the names of so many most

celebrated Artists might expire into empty airs as the passage of time flows on and the last breath of life is exhaled, I have meditated with all zeal how it might be possible for that lethal Worm of the memory of the well-deserving to be destroyed, so that the memory of the most famous works left by them would not die among posterity after the natural course of their lives is finished.
For preserving the memory of those names, their lives, origins, and artistic inventions are described here.

Toward which end, with singular zeal and no negligible effort, I have applied myself to describe the origin and lineage of as many as possible, as well as their excellence in their art—partly collected from older testimonies, partly researched through my own experience and use, and partly fundamentally drawn from friends still living—according to the limited capacity of my mind, which is now at last growing weary with age. I have done this for the sake of all cultivators of the fine arts: in honor of those who have already paid the final fare to Charon original: "Charonti"; In Greek mythology, Charon is the ferryman who carries souls across the river Styx to the underworld. The "final fare" refers to death.; and for the use and benefit of those who desire to apply their hand to the noble art of painting. I intended to appropriately explain the lives of the most celebrated artists in this genre, as much as was possible and could be known, along with the time in which they flourished, and finally the Works, if they left any singular and memorable things behind.
Of Painting and Sculpture.

Now that everything was prepared and duly ready, this not insignificant controversy disturbed my mind, with most copious and clever arguments militating on both sides: namely, to which of these two most praiseworthy arts should the prerogative be granted; to Painting, or indeed to Sculpture?