Sebastiano del Piombo
Sebastiano del Piombo | |
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Born | Sebastiano Luciani c. 1485 Probably Venice, Italy |
Died | 21 June 1547 (aged 61–62) Rome, Papal States |
Education | Giovanni Bellini, probably Giorgione |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | High Renaissance |
Sebastiano del Piombo (Italian:
Born Sebastiano Luciani, after coming to Rome he became known as Sebastiano Veneziano or Viniziano ("Sebastian the Venetian"), until in 1531 he became the
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
Having achieved success as a
Venice
Sebastiano del Piombo was probably born in Venice, though there is no certainty as to his background. His birthdate is extrapolated from
No signed or firmly documented works survive from his period painting in Venice, and many attributions are disputed.[4] As with other artists, some of Sebastiano's works have long been confused with Giorgione's. Like Titian, he may have completed work left unfinished at Giorgione's death in 1510; Marcantonio Michiel says he finished The Three Philosophers.[8] The earliest significant work attributed to him is a portrait of a girl in Budapest, of about 1505.
He is now usually assigned the unfinished and reworked Judgement of Solomon now at
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 c. 1508–09, 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's Madonna of the Rose-Garlands of 1506. The outside pair of shutters also show what Sebastiano had learnt from Bellini.[10] Their technique has developed "from the earlier smooth surface to the application of paint in heavy brushstrokes", and the figure of Saint Sebastian shows awareness of classical sculpture.[11]
The main
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Portrait of a Girl in Budapest, c. 1505, one of his earliest paintings.
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Sacra conversatione, c. 1507, Louvre
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Saint Louis of Toulouse, from the inside of the organ-shutters of San Bartolomeo, Venice.[13]
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Altarpiece atSan Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice, 1510–11
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Salome, or Judith, 1510
Rome
1511–1520
In 1511 the Papal banker
Sebastiano had also been producing
By about 1515, Sebastiano had befriended and allied himself with Michelangelo, 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, only returning occasionally to Rome for several years after.[14]
The first result of this collaboration was one of Sebastiano's most important paintings, a
These led a Florentine friend of Michelangelo, Pierfrancesco Borgherini, to commission Sebastiano to decorate a chapel in
The last major work of the period was the
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
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Ferry Carondelet with his Secretaries, 1512
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Sebastiano's Polyphemus next to Raphael's Galatea in the Villa Farnesina. Two of his lunettes above.
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Descent into Limbo, 1516, left wing of a triptych.[25]
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TheLamentation of Jesus, 1516, centre part of the triptych.[26]
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The Flagellation in San Pietro in Montorio, to a drawing by Michelangelo, 1516 or later.
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The Louvre Visitation, 1518–19
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Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Columbus, 1519
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.
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, 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, 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.[32]
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.[6] After this his paintings, which are more often signed than dated, carry signatures such as "F(rater) Sebastianus Ven(etus)".[33]
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.[4] 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.[34]
His friendship with Michelangelo came to an end in 1534, after a disagreement over the latter's
Two late projects for churches were never finished by Sebastiano. A large altarpiece of the Birth of the Virgin, still in
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.[39] After efforts by Daniele da Volterra his remains were moved in 1561 to the predecessor of the Rome Accademia di San Luca.[4]
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Said to be Vittoria Colonna, by 1525, already showing a very simplified treatment of form.
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Pope Clement VII, about 1526
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Andrea Doria, 1526
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A Lady as Saint Agatha, after 1530, as signed with "F." for "Frate". Probably 1540s.[33]
Technique
Sebastiano was trained in the Venetian tradition of rich, subtly varying, colours in oil painting. In the
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.[41] 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.[42]
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. 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, wearing the beard he always had as a penance after the Sack of Rome.[43]
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.[44] 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 "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 [this] is from his own hand.[45]
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.[46] 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.[39]
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.[39]
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").[48] 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".[49] Nor did it work in getting Vatican commissions.
In 1521 he acted as Michelangelo's agent in the installation of the Risen Christ or
Selected works
- Venetian period
- Judgement of Solomon, Kingston Lacy, c. 1505–1510, unfinished
- Altarpiece in San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice (c. 1509)
- 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, 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, Florence
- Portrait of a Man (c. 1515) – Oil on poplar, 115 x 94 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
- Portrait of a Girl (c. 1515) – Oil on wood, 52,5 x 42,8 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
- Portrait of a Warrior (c. 1515)
- Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary, and Two Geographers (1516) National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Christ descending into Limbo – , 1516
- Transfiguration, Flagellation, saints and prophets San Pietro in Montorio, Rome , 1516–1524
- A Prophet Addressed by an Angel (1516–17) National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Pietà (c. 1517) – Panel painting, Museo Civico, Viterbo, Italy
- National Gallery, London
- Hoy Family (c. 1520) Burgos Cathedral
- Portrait of a Humanist (1520) National Gallery, Washington D.C.[2]
- Portrait of Andrea Doria (1526) Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome
- Portrait of Pope Clement VII (half-length, about 1526) Museo di Capodimonte, Naples
- Portrait of Getty Museum, Los Angeles [3]
- Portrait head of Clement VII on slate, c. 1531, Museo di Capodimonte, 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
- A Lady as Saint Agatha, after 1530, as signed with "F." for "Frate". Probably 1540s, National Gallery, London
- Visitation, originally Santa Maria della Pace, Rome, unfinished with 3 fragments now Alnwick Castle, 1540s
Notes
- ^ Steer, 92–94
- ^ Gould, 241; Lucco
- ^ Jones & Penny, 183
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Lucco
- ^ Hirst, 209; Lucco; Vasari
- ^ a b Lucco; Vasari
- ^ Freedberg, 141
- ^ Steer, 90; Gould, 242; New, 33
- ^ Hirst, 210–211, 211 quoted; Lucco, giving dates different by a few years, "c. 1505. ... probably abandoned by Sebastiano some time before 1507"; Freedberg, 142–143, placing it in 1508.
- ^ Hirst, 210; Steer, 92 (quoted); Lucco
- ^ Lucco, quoted; Freedberg, 143
- ^ Steer, 92–93, 93 quoted
- ^ the full set
- ^ a b c Freedberg, 111
- ^ Freedberg, 109–111
- ^ Lucco; for the rather uncertain sequence of these works, see Jones & Penny, 93. Vasari says that the Galatea was earlier than the Polyphemus, but this may be wrong.
- ^ Lucco; Freedberg, 111
- ^ Freedberg, 113, quoted; Vasari says there was a drawing.
- ^ M&S, 14
- ^ Freedberg, 113
- ^ M&S, 56–58
- ^ Lucco; Freedberg, 115–116
- ^ Vasari; Lucco; M&S, "Room 5"
- ^ M&S, before 60; see further: J. Juncic: "Joachimist Prophecies in Sebastiano del Piombo’s Borgherini Chapel and Raphael’s Transfiguration", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, li (1988), pp. 66–84
- ^ M&S, 19
- ^ M&S, 20
- ^ a b M&S, 39
- ^ Freedberg, 116; Lucco
- ^ Jones and Penny, 239; Lucco
- ^ M&S, 68, 69
- ^ Jones and Penny, 88
- ^ Lucco; Freedberg, 225–228
- ^ a b Gould, 247; Lucco
- ^ Vasari; Lucco
- ^ M&S, 72; Lucco
- ^ Sistine, 178; Vasari covers this in his life of Sebastiano
- ^ Vasari, "Life of Sebastiano del Piombo" (near the end)
- ^ Freedberg, 226; M&S, 70–72; Lucco
- ^ a b c Vasari
- ^ Dunkerton, J., Howard, H. "Sebastiano del Piombo's Raising of Lazarus: A History of Change", pp. 33–44, 36 quoted, 2009, National Gallery Technical Bulletin, Vol 30, pp 26–51, online text
- ^ M&S, 8
- ^ Lucco; M&S, 61
- ^ M&S, 35
- ^ Lucco; M&S, 41, 42 etc.
- ^ British Museum collection database, 1935,0713.2, "Four standing women; one in foreground with a bowl balanced on her head, ....", a study for the late Visitation in Sta Maria della Pace.
- ^ Freedberg, 116
- ^ M&S, 11
- ^ M&S, 29, 30
- ^ M&S, 31, 32 quoted
- ^ M&S, 55
- ^ M&S, 66
- ^ M&S, 67
References
- ISBN 0300055870
- Hirst, Michael in Jane Martineau (ed), The Genius of Venice, 1500–1600, 1983, Royal Academy of Arts, London.
- ISBN 0947645225
- Roger Jones and ISBN 0300030614
- 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, ISBN 051756274X
- ISBN 0500201013
- 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., ISBN 9781857096088
- Rossetti, William Michael (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). pp. 567–568.
- 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, ISBN 978-88-7179-576-8
External links
Media related to Sebastiano del Piombo at Wikimedia Commons
- Michelangelo & Sebastiano, exhibition to 25 June 2017, National Gallery, London
- Sebastiano Luciani – La Piedad – Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli