Pinturicchio, or Pintoricchio (, ; born Bernardino di Betto; 1454–1513), also known as Benetto di Biagio or Sordicchio, was an

Italian Renaissance painter Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political sta ...

. He acquired his nickname (meaning "little painter") because of his small stature and he used it to sign some of his artworks that were created during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries."PINTURICCHIO." ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists''. ''Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web. 14 February 2017. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/benezit/B00142364 .

Biography

Early years

Pinturicchio was born the son of Benedetto or Betto di Biagio, in

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

. In his career, he may have trained under lesser-known Perugian painters such as Bonfigli and

Fiorenzo di Lorenzo Fiorenzo di Lorenzo ( 1440 – 1522) was an Italian painter, of the Umbrian school. He lived and worked at Perugia, where most of his authentic works are still preserved in the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria. Fiorenzo is known from a few sig ...

. According to

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ide ...

, Pinturicchio was a paid assistant of

Perugino Pietro Perugino ( ; ; born Pietro Vannucci or Pietro Vanucci; – 1523), an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael became his most famous ...

. The works of the Perugian Renaissance school are very similar and often paintings by Perugino, Pinturicchio, Lo Spagna, and a young

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

may be mistaken, one for the other. In the execution of large frescoes, pupils and assistants had a large share in the work, either in enlarging the master's sketch to the full-sized cartoon, in transferring the cartoon to the wall, or in painting backgrounds or accessories. His assignment in Rome, to decorate the Sistine Chapel, was an experience fraught with learning from prominent artists of the time, including:

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio (also spelt as Ghirlandajo), was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the so-c ...

, Pietro Vanucci, and Luca Signorelli. The Sistine Chapel was where it is believed that Pinturicchio was collaborating with Perugino to some extent. Pinturicchio's fresco, ''Assumption of Mary'', executed in 1481 on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, was destroyed in 1535 to make way for Michelangelo's Last Judgement.

Work in Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome

After assisting Perugino in his

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es in the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

, Pinturicchio was employed by various members of the Della Rovere family to decorate the Semi-Gods Ceiling of Palazzo dei Penitenzieri as well as a series of chapels in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, where he appears to have worked from 1484, or earlier, until 1492. Critic Evelyn March Phillipps sums up his work by saying that the basilica " uld be if it had been left with all its original decorations, one of the finest monuments to Pintoricchio’s art in Italy. A great deal remains, but much has been swept away".Phillipps, cit., pag. 59. The earliest known of his works is an altarpiece of the ''Adoration of the Shepherds'', in the Della Rovere Chapel, the first chapel (from the west) on the south, built by Cardinal Domenico della Rovere. In the

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

s under the vault, Pinturicchio painted small scenes from the life of St. Jerome. The polychrome grotesque wall decoration on a yellow-gold background probably was inspired by the paintings of the

Domus Aurea The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped complex built by the Roman Empire, Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the Great Fire of Rome, great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part ...

, and belongs the earliest and highest quality of their kind in Rome. The frescos he painted in the Cybo Chapel, built by Cardinal Lorenzo Cybo de Mari in the beginning of the sixteenth century, were destroyed in 1682, when the chapel was rebuilt by Cardinal Alderano Cybo. The old fresco of the ''Virgin and the Child'' by Pinturicchio was detached from the wall and sent by the cardinal to Massa in 1687. The fragment was re-used as the altarpiece of the Ducal Chapel of the Cathedral of Massa.Federici (2003), cit., pp. 344-45, 350. The third chapel on the south is that of Girolamo Basso della Rovere, nephew of

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

, and bishop of

Recanati Recanati () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Macerata, in the Italian region of Marche. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th c ...

. The Basso Della Rovere Chapel contains a fine altarpiece, ''Madonna enthroned between Four Saints'', and on the eastern side a very nobly composed fresco of the ''Assumption of the Virgin''. The vault and its lunettes are richly decorated with small paintings of the Life of the Virgin, surrounded by graceful arabesques; and the dado is covered with monochrome paintings of scenes from the lives of saints, illusionistic benches, and very gracefully and powerfully drawn figures of women in full length, in which the influence of Luca Signorelli may be traced. In the Costa Chapel, Pinturicchio or one of his helpers painted the ''Four Latin Doctors'' in the lunettes of the vault. Most of these frescoes are considerably injured by moisture and have suffered little from restoration. The last paintings completed by Pinturicchio in this church are found on the vault behind the choir, where he painted decorative frescoes, with main lines arranged to suit their surroundings in a skilful way. In the centre is an octagonal panel, ''Coronation of the Virgin'', and surrounding it, are medallions of the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

. The spaces between them are filled by reclining figures of the Four Sibyls. On each pendentive is a figure of one of the Four Doctors enthroned under a niched canopy. The bands that separate these paintings have elaborate arabesques on a

gold ground Gold ground (both a noun and adjective) or gold-ground (adjective) is a term in art history for a style of images with all or most of the background in a solid gold colour. Historically, real gold leaf has normally been used, giving a luxurious ...

, and the whole is painted with broad and effective touches, very telling when seen (as is necessarily the case) from a considerable distance below.

Works in the Vatican Library

In 1492, Pinturicchio was summoned to

Orvieto Cathedral Orvieto Cathedral () is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. Since 1986, the cathedral in Orvieto has been the episcopal seat ...

. However, he was also commissioned by

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

(Borgia) to decorate a recently completed suite of six rooms, the Borgia Apartments in the

Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the build ...

of the Vatican. These rooms now form part of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

, and five still retain a series of Pinturicchio frescoes. He worked in these rooms until around 1494, assisted by his pupils, and not without interruption. It was not until Pope Alexander VI died that Pinturicchio left Rome for Umbria, leaving much of the work in Rome to be completed by Michelangelo, Raphael, and others. Among other important frescoes by Pinturicchio that still exist in Rome and are in good condition, are in the Bufalini Chapel in the southwest sector of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, probably executed around 1484–1486. On the altar wall is a grand painting of St. Bernardino of Siena between two other saints, crowned by angels; in the upper part is a figure of Christ in a mandorla, surrounded by angel musicians; on the left wall is a large fresco of the miracles performed by the corpse of St. Bernardino, which includes portraits of members of the sponsoring Bufalini family. One group of three women, the central figure with a child at her breast, recalls the grace of Raphael's second manner. The composition of the main group around the saint's corpse appears to have been suggested by

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

's painting of St. Francis on his bier that is found in Santa Croce at Florence. On the vault are four noble figures of the Evangelists, usually attributed to Luca Signorelli, but as with the rest of the frescoes in this chapel, they are more probably by Pinturicchio. On the vault of the sacristy of

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th-century Churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere rioni of Rome, rione. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Cecilia (early 3rd century AD) and serves as the conventual church for the adja ...

, Pinturicchio painted the Almighty surrounded by the Evangelists. During a visit to Orvieto in 1496, Pinturicchio painted in the choir of the Duomo two more figures of the Latin Doctors. For these he received fifty gold ducats. Now, like the rest of his work at Orvieto, these figures are almost destroyed. In Umbria, his masterpiece is the Baglioni Chapel in the church of S. Maria Maggiore in Spello. Among his panel paintings the following are the most important: an altarpiece for S. Maria de' Fossi at Perugia, painted in 1496–1498, now moved to the city gallery, depicts a ''Madonna enthroned among Saints'', very minutely painted; the wings of the retable have standing figures of St. Augustine and St. Jerome; and the

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

has paintings in miniature of the Annunciation and the Evangelists. Another fine altarpiece, similar in delicacy of detail, and probably painted about the same time, is that in the cathedral of San Severino — the Madonna enthroned looks down toward the kneeling donor. In beauty of face and expression, the angels at the sides recall the manner of Lorenzo di Credi or Da Vinci. The Vatican galleries have the largest of Pinturicchio's panels — the Coronation of the Virgin, with the apostles and other saints below. Several well-executed portraits occur among the kneeling saints. The Virgin, who kneels at Christ's feet to receive her crown, is a figure of great tenderness and beauty, and the lower group is composed with great skill and grace in arrangement. In 1504, Pinturicchio designed a mosaic floor panel for the Cathedral of Siena: ''the Story of Fortuna, or the Hill of Virtue''. This was executed by Paolo Mannucci in 1506. On top of the panel, a symbolic representation of Knowledge hands the palm of victory to

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

. Among the public collections holding works by Pinturicchio are, the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

(University of Oxford), Biblioteca Ambrosiana (Milan), the

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...

, the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

(London), the

Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With an encyclopedic collection of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums betwe ...

, the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

(University of Cambridge), the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...

, the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

, the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London, Palazzo Ruspoli (Rome), the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

, the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Milan), Princeton University Art Museum,

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...

in Baltimore, the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

, and the

Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest) The Museum of Fine Arts (, ) is a museum in Heroes' Square (Budapest), Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hungary, facing the Kunsthalle Budapest, Palace of Art. It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an Eclecticism in ar ...

Works

* '' Miracles of St Bernardino'' (1473), Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria,

* '' Saint Jerome in the Desert'' (1475–1480),

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland * '' The Crucifixion with Sts. Jerome and Christopher'', c''.'' 1475, oil on wood, 59 × 40 cm,

Galleria Borghese The or Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate touri ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

* Della Rovere Chapel (late 1470s to 1482), Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome; including ''The Adoration of the Child with St. Jerome'' * '' Madonna with Writing Child and St. Jerome'' (c''.'' 1481), 49.5 × 38 cm, Gemäldegalerie,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

* ''Assumption of Mary'', fresco, Sistine Chapel (1481), later destroyed * '' Madonna with Blessing Child'' (c''.'' 1480),

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

* * Bufalini Chapel (c''.'' 1484–1486), frescoes, Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, Rome * Basso Della Rovere Chapel (c''.'' 1484–1492), frescoes, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome * Cybo Chapel (c''.'' 1489–1503) in Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy (destroyed); including ''The Virgin and the Child'' now in the Cathedral of Massa, Massa,

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

* Costa Chapel (c''.'' 1488–90), frescos, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome: The Four Doctors of the Church * '' Madonna of Peace'' (c''.'' 1490), oil on panel, 143 × 70 cm, Pinacoteca civica Tacchi-Venturi,

San Severino Marche San Severino Marche is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. History From prehistory to Roman age The oldest remains of human ...

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

* Semi-Gods Ceiling (c''.'' 1490), oil on paper on wood, Palazzo dei Penitenzieri, Rome * ''

Nursing Madonna The Nursing Madonna, ''Virgo Lactans'', or Madonna Lactans, is an iconography of the Madonna and Child in which the Blessed Virgin Mary, Virgin Mary is shown breastfeeding the infant Jesus. In Italian it is called the ''Madonna del Latte'' ("Mado ...

'' (1492), 29.2 × 21.6 cm, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas * Borgia Apartments (c''.'' 1492–1494), frescoes.

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

, Rome * '' Madonna col Bambino e paesaggio'' 59 x 44 cm, Palazzo Baldeschi,

* '' Madonna with Reading Child'' (c''.'' 1494–1498), 33.7 × 25.4 cm, North Carolina Museum of Art,

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, North Carolina * '' Madonna with Writing Child'' (c''.'' 1494–1498), 61 × 41.6 cm,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

* '' Madonna with Writing Child and Bishop'' (c''.'' 1495), 158 × 77.3 cm, Museu de Belles Arts,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

* Eroli Chapel (1497), frescoes, Cathedral of Spoleto,

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

* Santa Maria dei Fossi Altarpiece, oil on panel and canvas, 513 × 314 cm, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia * ''Portrait of a Boy'' (c''.'' 1500),

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister The (, ''Old Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch and F ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

* Baglioni Chapel (c''.'' 1500–1501).

Santa Maria Maggiore Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...

, Spello * * Piccolomini Library (1502–1507), frescoes, Cathedral of Siena,

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

* ''Coronation of Pius II'' (c''.'' 1503–1508), fresco, Cathedral of Siena, Siena * St. John the Baptist Chapel (1504), Cathedral of Siena, Siena * '' Madonna Enthroned with Saints'' (1506–1508), 318 × 257 cm, church of Sant'Andrea, Spello * ''Virgin and Child'' (51,4 × 40,6) tempera and gold on wood panel, Alicem institute,

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Notes

Sources

* * * *Fabrizio Federici, La diffusione della “prattica romana”: il cardinale Alderano Cybo e le chiese di Massa (1640-1700), in: Atti e Memorie della Deputazione di Storia Patria per le antiche Provincie Modenesi, s. XI - v. XXV, 2003, pp. 315–389. *Evelyn March Phillips, Pintoricchio, George Bell & Sons, London, 1901.

External links

Pinturicchio on Artcyclopedia
{{Authority control 15th-century Italian painters 16th-century Italian painters 1454 births 1513 deaths Painters from Perugia Fresco painters Italian male painters Italian Renaissance painters Italian Roman Catholics Umbrian painters Church frescos in Italy