ant vivacity or philosophic gravity. All seemed
preoccupied; but the secret of breaking the bonds of servile imitation
was a new art: of mingling into one school the charms of every school,
adapting them with freedom; and having been taught by all, to remain a
model for all; or, as Lanzi expresses it, _dopo avere appresso da tutte
insegno a tutte_. To restore Art in its decline, Lodovico pressed all
the sweets from all the flowers; or, melting together all his rich
materials, formed one Corinthian brass. This school is described by Du
Fresnoy in the character of Annibale,

---- Quos sedulus Hannibal omnes
In PROPRIAM MENTEM atque morem mira arte COEGIT.

Paraphrased by Mason,

From all their charms combined, with happy toil,
Did Annibal compose his wondrous style;
O'er the fair fraud so close a veil is thrown,
That every borrow'd grace becomes his own.[268]

Lodovico perceived that he could not stand alone in the breach, and
single-handed encounter an impetuous multitude. He thought of raising up
a party among those youthful aspirants who had not yet been habitually
depraved. He had a brother whose talent could never rise beyond a poor
copyist's, and him he had the judgment, unswayed by undue partiality, to
account as a cipher; but he found two of his cousins men capable of
becoming as extraordinary as himself.

These brothers, Agostiuo and Annibale, first by nature, and then by
their manners and habits, were of the most opposite dispositions. Born
amidst humble occupations, their father was a tailor, and Annibale was
still working on the paternal board, while Agostino was occupied by the
elegant works of the goldsmith, whence he acquired the fine art of
engraving, in which he became the Marc Antonio of his time. Their
manners, perhaps, resulted from their trades. Agostino was a man of
science and literature: a philosopher and poet of the most polished
elegance, the most enchanting conversation, far removed from the vulgar,
he became the companion of the learned and the noble. Annibale could
scarcely write and read; an inborn ruggedness made him sullen, taciturn,
or, if he spoke, sarcastic; scorn and ridicule were his bitter delight.
Nature had strangely made these brothers little less than enemies.
Annibale despised his brother for having entered into the higher
circles; he ridiculed his refined manners, and even the neat elegance of
his dress. To mortify Agostino, one day he sent