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Sebastiano del Piombo (; – 21 June 1547) was an Italian painter of the
High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
and early
Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
periods, famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Venetian school in which he was trained with the monumental forms of the Roman school. He belongs both to the painting school of his native city, Venice, where he made significant contributions before he left for Rome in 1511, and that of Rome, where he stayed for the rest of his life, and whose style he thoroughly adopted. Born Sebastiano Luciani, after coming to Rome he became known as ''Sebastiano Veneziano'' or ''Viniziano'' ("Sebastian the Venetian"), until in 1531 he became the Keeper of the Seal to the Papacy, and so got the nickname ''del Piombo'' ("of the
Lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
") thereafter, from his new job title of ''piombatore''. Friends like Michelangelo and
Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...
called him ''Fra Bastiano'' ("Brother Bastian"). Never a very disciplined or productive painter, his artistic productivity fell still further after becoming ''piombatore'', which committed him to attend on the pope most days, to travel with him and to take holy orders as a
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...
, despite having a wife and two children.Lucco He now painted mostly portraits, and relatively few works of his survive compared to his great contemporaries in Rome. This limited his involvement with the
Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
style of his later years. Having achieved success as a lutenist in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
when young, he turned to painting and trained with
Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...
and Giorgione. When he first went to Rome, he worked alongside
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 ...
and then became one of the few painters to get on well with
Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
, who tried to promote his career by encouraging him to compete for commissions against Raphael. He painted portraits and religious subjects in oils, and, once he was established, avoided the large
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 ...
schemes that took up so much of the time of Raphael and Michelangelo. His earlier career in both Venice and Rome was somewhat overshadowed by the presence of clearly greater painters in the same city, but after the death of Raphael in 1520, he became Rome's leading painter. His influence on other artists was limited by his lack of prominent pupils and relatively little dissemination of his works in print copies.


Venice

Sebastiano del Piombo was probably born in Venice, though there is no certainty as to his background. His birthdate is extrapolated from Vasari's statement that he was 62 at his death in 1547. That he was first known as a musician and singer may suggest an upper-middle-class background; the extent to which his playing on the
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...
and other instruments was professional is unclear.Lucco; Vasari Like his contemporary
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 ...
, his career was marked by his ability to get on well with both other artists and patrons. He began to train as a painter at a relatively late age, probably 18 or 20, so around 1503–1505, becoming a pupil of
Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...
and probably afterwards of Giorgione, both of whose influence is apparent in his works; Vasari's mention of their relationship is rather vague: "''si acconciò con Giorgione''". No signed or firmly documented works survive from his period painting in Venice, and many attributions are disputed. As with other artists, some of Sebastiano's works have long been confused with Giorgione's. Like
Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...
, he may have completed work left unfinished at Giorgione's death in 1510; Marcantonio Michiel says he finished '' The Three Philosophers''. The earliest significant work attributed to him is a portrait of a girl in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, of about 1505. He is now usually assigned the unfinished and reworked ''Judgement of Solomon'' now at Kingston Lacy. This dramatic and imposing picture, "one of the masterpieces of Venetian narrative painting", was also long attributed to Giorgione; it may have been abandoned about 1508, though the estimated dates vary in the period 1505–1510. After extensive restoration in the 1980s, removing later overpainting, the painting is now left with traces of the three different compositions visible; still more can be seen with infra-red reflectography. Still over 2 × 3 metres, it seems originally to have been even larger, with some 40 cm lost along the left edge. There are two versions of the elaborate architectural background, which was a recurrent interest of Sebastiano's Venetian period. The last setting is in a
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
, which may reflect a "more learned" picture intended for a building holding courts of justice. The figure at the front of the executioner, left without clothes or the baby, is clearly drawn from classical sculpture. Four standing figures of saints in niches on the organ-shutters of San Bartolomeo, Venice, now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, date from –1509, and are "very Giorgionesque", especially the pair on the insides. They were painted at the same time as Giorgione's frescos for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (now lost) just by the church, which was the German's church in Venice, and at this time also held
Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
's '' Madonna of the Rose-Garlands'' of 1506. The outside pair of shutters also show what Sebastiano had learnt from Bellini. Their technique has developed "from the earlier smooth surface to the application of paint in heavy brushstrokes", and the figure of
Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...
shows awareness of classical sculpture. The main
altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...
for San Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice of 1510–1511 shows the patron saint, Saint John Chrysostom reading aloud at a desk, a
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...
looking out at the viewer, and two other female and three male saints. The organ-shutters for the church were also painted. The style shows developments "towards a new fullness of form and breadth of movement" that may have been influenced by the Florentine painter Fra Bartolommeo, who was in Venice in 1508. Aspects of the composition were also innovative, and later copied by Venetian painters, including even Titian. File:Retrato de dama joven, por Sebastiano del Piombo.jpg, ''Portrait of a Girl'' in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, , one of his earliest paintings. File:DelPiombo-Sainte-famille-Louvre.jpg, '' Sacra conversatione'', ,
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 ...
File:Accademia - San Ludovico da Tolosa di Sebastiano del Piombo.jpg, Saint Louis of Toulouse, from the inside of the organ-shutters of San Bartolomeo, Venice. File:Sebastiano del piombo, pala di san giovanni crisostomo 01.jpg, Altarpiece at San Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice, 1510–11 File:Sebastiano del Piombo - The Daughter of Herodias - Google Art Project.jpg, Salome, or Judith, 1510


Rome


1511–1520

In 1511 the Papal banker Agostino Chigi was the richest man in Rome, and a generous patron of the arts. Early in the year he was sent to Venice by
Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...
to buy Venetian support for the papacy in the
War of the League of Cambrai The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...
. When he returned to Rome after a stay of some six months, he brought Sebastiano with him; Sebastiano was to remain based in Rome for the rest of his life. Sebastiano began by painting mythological subjects in
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 in the ''Sala di Galatea'' in Chigi's Villa Farnesina, under a ceiling just done by Baldassarre Peruzzi. In these he already shows an adaption to Roman style, especially that of Michelangelo, whose
Sistine Chapel ceiling The Sistine Chapel ceiling (), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance Renaissance art, art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the Vatican City, Vatican betwee ...
had just been completed. Probably the next year, he added a large '' Polyphemus''. It is possible that Raphael's famous '' Galatea'' of 1514, which is in the next bay and now dominates the room, replaced a fresco by Sebastiano. A larger cycle on the lower walls was apparently intended, but abandoned, for reasons that are not clear. Sebastiano had also been producing easel paintings from soon after his arrival, showing the development of his new style. A ''Death of
Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...
'' in the
Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...
dates to about 1512–13, and shows that he "had achieved a working dialectic of Roman and Venetian classical styles", in which he "enlarged the proportion of his figures into an almost bulking massiveness, ponderous and sensuously splendid: idealizations, but of sensuous existence".Freedberg, 111 By about 1515, Sebastiano had befriended and allied himself with
Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
, who recruited him "as a kind of deputy for him in painting", he having returned to his backlog of promised projects in sculpture. Michelangelo's intention was for Sebastiano to "contest Raphael's first place" in painting in Rome, using at least in part ideas and designs supplied by Michelangelo, whose rivalry with Raphael had become intense. The intention may have been for a closer relationship than actually resulted, as in 1516 Michelangelo returned to
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, only returning occasionally to Rome for several years after. The first result of this collaboration was one of Sebastiano's most important paintings, a '' Pietà'' in
Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...
. Here the composition is highly unusual for this common subject (which Michelangelo had famously sculpted in 1498–99), with Christ lying across the bottom of the picture space, at the feet of a Virgin looking up to Heaven, so that the two figures do not actually touch. Though no drawing survives, this was Michelangelo's conception, where "an idea of high tragic power is expressed with extreme simplicity in a structure of severe geometric rigour". The back of the panels have large sketches in
charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...
that seem to be by both artists. In 1516 he painted a similar subject, the '' Lamentation of Jesus'' (now
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
) using his own composition, and showing his awareness of Raphael's handling of groups of figures. These led a Florentine friend of Michelangelo, Pierfrancesco Borgherini, to commission Sebastiano to decorate a chapel in
San Pietro in Montorio San Pietro in Montorio (English: "Saint Peter on the Golden Mountain") is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard the ''Tempietto'', a small commemorative ''martyrium'' ('martyry') built by Donato Bramante. History The Church o ...
in Rome; he no doubt hoped to get significant input from Michelangelo. There is a Michelangelo drawing of 1516 for the '' Flagellation of Jesus'' in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, and other sketches; the final design survives only in a copy by Giulio Clovio after another Michelangelo drawing (
Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...
). In the event there were a series of interruptions and Sebastiano did not complete the chapel until early 1524. The ''Flagellation'' is painted in oil on plaster. This was a method first practiced by Domenico Veneziano, and afterwards by other artists; but according to Vasari only Sebastiano succeeded in preventing the colours eventually blackening. The last major work of the period was the '' Raising of Lazarus'', now in the National Gallery, London, which was commissioned in 1516 by Cardinal Giulio de Medici, archbishop of
Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...
in southern France, and the future
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...
, in blatant competition, engineered by Michelangelo, with a painting of the same size by Raphael, the '' Transfiguration''. Both were supposed to hang in Narbonne Cathedral. Michelangelo supplied at least drawings for the figure of Lazarus and the two men supporting him (British Museum), but probably did not do any work on the painting itself, if only because he was only briefly in Rome during the time it was painted. When the two paintings were hung together in the Vatican, just after Raphael's death in 1520, both were praised, but the Raphael generally preferred, as has remained the case ever since. In the early 1520s Sebastiano completed the Borgherini Chapel with a ''Transfiguration'' in the semi-dome above his ''Flagellation''. The combination shows the influence of the '' Apocalipsis Nova'', a contemporary text that prophesied the coming of an "Angelic Pastor" who would bring a new age of peace. Michelangelo was among many reformist Catholics interested in the text. The ''Flagellation'' represents "the current, corrupted state of Christianity and the Transfiguration the glorious future to come". File:Sebastiano del Piombo 003.jpg, Ferry Carondelet with his Secretaries, 1512 File:Sebastiano del Piombo - View of the Loggia di Galatea - WGA21116.jpg, Sebastiano's '' Polyphemus'' next to Raphael's '' Galatea'' in the Villa Farnesina. Two of his lunettes above. File:Sebastiano del piombo, pietà.jpg, The
Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...
'' Pietà'', c. 1515 File:Bajada de Cristo al Limbo (Sebastiano del Piombo).jpg, ''Descent into Limbo'', 1516, left wing of a triptych. File:Piombo (Llanto por Cristo muerto).jpg, The
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
'' Lamentation of Jesus'', 1516, centre part of the triptych. File:San Pietro in Montorio; Geisselung (Sebastiano del Piombo).jpg, The ''Flagellation'' in
San Pietro in Montorio San Pietro in Montorio (English: "Saint Peter on the Golden Mountain") is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard the ''Tempietto'', a small commemorative ''martyrium'' ('martyry') built by Donato Bramante. History The Church o ...
, to a drawing by Michelangelo, 1516 or later. File:Piombo, Sebastiano del - The Visitation - 1518-19.jpg, 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 ...
''Visitation'', 1518–19 File:Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Columbus.jpg, Portrait of a man, said to be
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
, 1519 File:Madona s rouškou, Sebastiano del Piombo (cropped).jpg, ''Madonna with the Veil'' (original version,
Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...
), c. 1525.M&S, 39


1520–1531

The death of Raphael in 1520, immediately before the exhibition of the two rival paintings intended for Narbonne, left Sebastiano clearly the leading painter operating in Rome. As his letters show, he immediately attempted to secure for himself the "Sala dei Pontefici", Raphael's next Vatican project, but was frustrated by Raphael's workshop, armed with the master's drawings, and his own inability to enlist Michelangelo's help, as the pope had told him to work exclusively on the long-promised Tomb of Pope Julius II. In the following years Sebastiano mostly avoided very large commissions for churches, and concentrated on portraits, where he had a considerable reputation, and religious easel paintings, such as his ''Visitation'' for France (1518–19, now
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 ...
), and his ''Madonna of the Veil'' (c. 1525), a very successful adaptation of Raphael's '' Madonna di Loreto''. To both of these types he brought his refined monumental classicism. His career in the decade was greatly impacted by outside events. In 1522 there was plague in Rome, and he may have left Rome for a long period; there is little evidence of his activity for over a year. In 1523 Giulio de Medici became
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...
, and thereafter Sebastiano seems to have been a part of Vatican court life. He painted a number of portraits of the pope, and other paintings for him. In 1527 he seems to have remained with the pope all through the horrors of the Sack of Rome and his nervous retreat to
Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...
, though he seems to have spent time in Venice in 1528 and perhaps 1529, his first known return there since 1511. This catastrophe brought to an end the High Renaissance epoch in Rome, scattering Raphael's workshop and the emerging Roman Mannerists, and largely destroying the confidence of patrons. In 1531 the death of the previous holder allowed Sebastiano to press Pope Clement for the lucrative office of the "''piombatore''", which he obtained after promising to pay a fixed sum of 300 scudi annually to the other main contender, Giovanni da Udine, who was also a painter, from Raphael's workshop. To hold the position he had to take vows as a friar, despite having a wife and two children. After this his paintings, which are more often signed than dated, carry signatures such as "F(rater) Sebastianus Ven(etus)".Gould, 247; Lucco


1532–1547

Sebastiano's artistic output reduced after taking the court role, though possibly not by as much as Vasari suggests. Large projects, even of a single painting, could take many years to complete, as with a ''Pieta'' for Spain. This was the last piece where Michelangelo helped him with a drawing. Vasari, probably much influenced by Michelangelo, places great emphasis on Sebastiano's turning away from art for a comfortable life as a well-paid courtier from this point, but may overstate the reality. His friendship with Michelangelo came to an end in 1534, after a disagreement over the latter's '' Last Judgment'' 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 ...
. Sebastiano encouraged the pope to insist that this picture should be executed in oil on plaster, the technique he had developed and used. The enormous wall was prepared with the smooth plaster needed for this, with Michelangelo apparently acquiescent. There may even have been the idea floated that Sebastiano might do the painting to Michelangelo's designs. Michelangelo may also have tried painting in oils on the smooth surface. It is clear that several months after the idea of using oils first appeared, Michelangelo finally and furiously rejected it, and insisted that the whole wall be re-plastered in the rough '' arriccio'' needed as a base for fresco. It was on this occasion that he famously said that
oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...
was "an art for women and for leisurely and idle people like Fra Sebastiano". Two late projects for churches were never finished by Sebastiano. A large altarpiece of the ''Birth of the Virgin'', still in Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, was begun in the late 1530s but had to be finished after his death by Francesco Salviati. Before his death in 1541, the executor of Agostino Chigi's estate commissioned a large ''Visitation'' as a memorial, in Santa Maria della Pace, Rome. It was still half-finished at Sebastiano's death in 1547, and was eventually removed in the 17th century. Fragments with some of the over life-size main figures are at Alnwick Castle, in a style of impressive simplicity, the end point of a "tendency to over-generalize appearances and pictorial structures so that they verged on an effect of geometrical abstraction" that had been increasing apparent in his work since his early years in Rome. Vasari records that he died after a short illness on 14 June 1547, at the age of 62. His will directed that he be buried very simply in Santa Maria del Popolo, with the savings from not having an elaborate burial given to the poor.Vasari After efforts by Daniele da Volterra his remains were moved in 1561 to the predecessor of the Rome Accademia di San Luca. File:Sebastiano del Piombo - Vittoria Colonna (?) - Google Art Project.jpg, Said to be Vittoria Colonna, by 1525, already showing a very simplified treatment of form. File:Sebastiano del Piombo – Portrait of Pope Clement VII (ca. 1526).jpg,
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...
, about 1526 File:Andrea Doria.jpg,
Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influe ...
, 1526 File:Sebastiano del Piombo 007.JPG, ''A Lady as Saint Agatha'', after 1530, as signed with "F." for "Frate". Probably 1540s.


Technique

Sebastiano was trained in the Venetian tradition of rich, subtly varying, colours in oil painting. In the '' Raising of Lazarus'' (1517–1519) he used a very wide range of pigments, often in complicated mixtures, and the painting can be seen as a display of Venetian skill for the Roman critics, attempting to achieve "the greatest and most subtly varied range of colours ever seen in a single painting". He became less interested in colour as his career progressed, and many later works are rather sombre, with touches of bright colour. His early works generally use the Venetian technique of freehand underdrawing on the surface to be painted, no doubt following a relatively approximate sketch, as was his technique for the Kingston Lacy ''Judgement of Solomon''. But after some years in Rome he began to use full-size cartoons for frescos, which were pricked along the lines and then soot "pounced" through, to give dotted lines on the surface for the artist to follow. This technique, normal in Florence and Rome, was used in the fresco ''Transfiguration'' of the Borgherini Chapel, for which some pricked sheets survive. However, this was his last work in fresco. From early on he was innovative and ready to experiment in compositional details as well as technique, with a special interest in painting in oils on new surfaces, whether plaster, stone, alabaster or
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
. Though tending to be dark, several of his works with these unorthodox backings have survived well. Though he often covered the whole surface, leaving no indication of the support, some of his paintings on mineral sheets leave the background unpainted. This is the case with a small head of Clement VII in
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, wearing the beard he always had as a
penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derive ...
after the Sack of Rome. He made excellent drawings, nearly all as compositional sketches. He continued to prefer to draw on light blue paper in black chalk with white highlights, a Venetian habit. Few if any early ones survive, and he may have changed his methods to use more precise sketches under the influence of Michelangelo and Raphael. Few survive for his portraits. A
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
"curator's comment" on one of their late drawings notes: "As so often with Sebastiano's drawings, the first impression is one of unrhythmic dryness; but the suggestion of atmosphere, the sensitively drawn contemplative faces and the subtle use of reflected lights and tonal transitions leave no doubt that hisis from his own hand.


Pupils

Sebastiano seems to have followed Michelangelo in painting with "no more than merely mechanical assistance" from a studio, and had no significant pupils formed in his style. Whether this was a cause or result of his avoidance of large compositions and his court office from the 1530s we cannot know.


Personal life and relationship with Michelangelo

The main sources for his personality and habits are Vasari and surviving letters, mostly to and from Michelangelo. Vasari knew Sebastiano, but probably not very well; although he had been compiling material for some time, the first edition of his ''Lives'' did not appear until 1550, after Sebastiano's death, and it is not clear if he had specifically discussed the biography with Sebastiano. He knew Michelangelo rather better, and his description of Sebastiano is probably heavily influenced by the hostile attitude Michelangelo had towards Sebastiano after 1534. Vasari takes up much of his ''Life'' bemoaning Sebastiano's supposed indolence and neglect of his artistic talent for a comfortable and convivial life, at least after 1531. Vasari says that in later life he lived in a fine house near the Piazza del Popolo, keeping a very good table, and often entertaining regular friends as well as visitors. He says he was always cheerful and humorous, and very good company. He became red-faced and rather fat, as the bearded portrait in the ''Lives'' suggests. As described above, he had become close to Michelangelo by about 1515. Though they eventually fell out, few people were able to remain on good terms with Michelangelo for a period of nearly twenty years. In 1519 Michelangelo became godfather to Sebastiano's first son, Luciano, after which Sebastiano addressed his letters to "My dearest ''compare''" ("godfather"). The relationship suffered a dip in 1520 when Sebastiano asked Michelangelo to write to Cardinal Bibbiena, a close friend of Pope Leo X, recommending Sebastiano for projects in the Vatican after Raphael's death. Michelangelo sent the letter a month or so later, which Sebastiano presented to the cardinal, without reading it. The letter was in very flippant terms, and Sebastiano complained that it became "practically the only topic of conversation at the Palace, and it makes everyone laugh". Nor did it work in getting Vatican commissions. In 1521 he acted as Michelangelo's agent in the installation of the ''Risen Christ'' or '' Cristo della Minerva'' in Rome, which was botched by the assistant Michelangelo had sent. From 1525 there is a draft for an emotional letter by Michelangelo passing on praise for Sebastiano by one "Captain Cuio", who he had dined with. In 1531 Sebastiano writes a despondent letter describing how "I still don't feel I am the same Bastiano that I was before the Sack; I still don't feel in my right mind."M&S, 67 The relationship never recovered from the argument over the ''Last Judgement'' in 1534, described above.


Selected works

;Venetian period *''Judgement of Solomon'', Kingston Lacy, –1510, unfinished *Altarpiece in San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice () * Organ-shutters of San Bartolomeo, Venice, now Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice *''Portrait of a Young Woman as a Wise Virgin'' (1510) National Gallery of Art, Washington *''Salome'' or ''Judith'', 1510,
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 ;Roman period *'' Polyphemus'' (1511) – fresco, Villa Farnesina, Rome *''The Metamorphosis'' (1511) – fresco, Villa Farnesina, Rome *''Christ Carrying the Cross'', c. 1513–14, Prado *''Martyrdom of St. Agatha'' Palazzo Pitti,
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*''Portrait of a Man'' (c. 1515) – Oil on poplar, 115 x 94 cm, Museum of Fine Arts,
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*''Portrait of a Girl'' (c. 1515) – Oil on wood, 52,5 x 42,8 cm, Museum of Fine Arts,
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*''Portrait of a Warrior'' (c. 1515) *''Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary, and Two Geographers'' (1516) National Gallery of Art, Washington *''Christ descending into Limbo'' Prado Museum,
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
br>
/small>, 1516 *''Transfiguration'', ''Flagellation'', saints and prophets
San Pietro in Montorio San Pietro in Montorio (English: "Saint Peter on the Golden Mountain") is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard the ''Tempietto'', a small commemorative ''martyrium'' ('martyry') built by Donato Bramante. History The Church o ...
, Rome
, 1516–1524 *''A Prophet Addressed by an Angel'' (1516–17) National Gallery of Art, Washington *'' Pietà'' (c. 1517) – Panel painting, Museo Civico,
Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...
, Italy
*'' The Raising of Lazarus (Sebastiano del Piombo), The Raising of Lazarus'' (1519)
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
*''Hoy Family'' (c. 1520) Burgos Cathedral *''Portrait of a Humanist'' (1520) National Gallery, Washington D.C.

/small> *'' Portrait of Andrea Doria'' (1526) Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome *''Portrait of
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...
'' (half-length, about 1526)
Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with se ...
, Naples
*''Portrait of Clement VII'' (with beard, c. 1531) – Oil on Slate 105.4 x 87.6 cm Getty Museum, Los Angele

/small> *Portrait head of Clement VII on slate, c. 1531,
Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with se ...
, Naples *''Birth of the Virgin'' – Oil on peperino, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, never finished *''Christ Carrying the Cross'' (1535–1540) – Oil on slate, 157 x 118 cm, Museum of Fine Arts,
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
*''A Lady as Saint Agatha'', after 1530, as signed with "F." for "Frate". Probably 1540s,
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 *''Visitation'', originally Santa Maria della Pace, Rome, unfinished with 3 fragments now Alnwick Castle, 1540s


Notes


References

* Sydney Joseph Freedberg, Freedberg, Sydney J. ''Painting in Italy, 1500–1600'', 3rd edn. 1993, Yale, *Hirst, Michael in Jane Martineau (ed), ''The Genius of Venice, 1500–1600'', 1983, Royal Academy of Arts, London. * Gould, Cecil, ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools'', National Gallery Catalogues, London 1975, *Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny, ''Raphael'', Yale, 1983, *Lucco, Mauro, "Sebastiano del Piombo", Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 1 Apr. 2017
subscription required
*"M&S": Exhibition handlist with captions for "Michelangelo & Sebastiano", 2017, National Gallery. Refs to catalogue numbers, or, if stated, sections. *"Sistine": Pietrangeli, Carlo, et al., ''The Sistine Chapel: The Art, the History, and the Restoration'', 1986, Harmony Books/Nippon Television, * Steer, John, ''Venetian painting: A concise history'', 1970, London: Thames and Hudson (World of Art), * Vasari
"Life of Sebastiano del Piombo"


Further reading

*Hirst, Michael, ''Sebastiano del Piombo'', 1981, Oxford UP *Matthias Wivel, Paul Joannides, Costanza Barbieri, ''Michelangelo & Sebastiano'', 2017, National Gallery Company Ltd., * *''Sebastiano del Piombo, 1485–1547'', exh. cat. by C. Strinati and B. W. Lindemann, 2008, Rome, Palazzo Venezia/Berlin, Gemäldegalerie * Strinati C., ''Sebastiano del Piombo 1485–1547'', 24 ORE Cultura, Milano 2008,


External links


''Michelangelo & Sebastiano''
exhibition to 25 June 2017, National Gallery, London
Sebastiano Luciani – La Piedad – Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli
{{Authority control Italian Renaissance painters Italian Mannerist painters 1480s births 1547 deaths Italian male painters Painters from Venice 16th-century Venetian people 16th-century Italian painters