Domenico di Pace Beccafumi (1486May 18, 1551) was an Italian
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
-
Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, 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 Ita ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
active predominantly in
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
. He is considered one of the last undiluted representatives of the Sienese school of painting.
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
, the son of Giacomo di Pace, a peasant who worked on the estate of Lorenzo Beccafumi. Seeing his talent for drawing, Lorenzo adopted him, and commended him to learn painting from Mechero, a lesser Sienese artist. In 1509 he traveled to Rome, where he learned from the artists who had just done their first work in the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
, but soon returned to Siena. However, while the Roman forays of two Sienese artists of roughly his generation ( Il Sodoma and
Peruzzi
The Peruzzi were bankers of Florence, among the leading families of the city in the 14th century, before the rise to prominence of the Medici. Their modest antecedents stretched back to the mid 11th century, according to the family's genealogist ...
) had imbued them with elements of the Umbrian-Florentine Classical style, Beccafumi's style remains, in striking ways, provincial. In Siena, he painted religious pieces for churches and of mythological decorations for private patrons, only mildly influenced by the gestured
Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, 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 Ita ...
trends dominating the neighboring
Florentine school
Florentine painting or the Florentine School refers to artists in, from, or influenced by the naturalistic style developed in Florence in the 14th century, largely through the efforts of Giotto di Bondone, and in the 15th century the leading sch ...
. There are medieval eccentricities, sometimes phantasmagoric, superfluous emotional detail and a misty non-linear, often jagged quality to his drawings, with primal tonality to his coloration that separates him from the classic Roman masters.
Pavement of Duomo di Siena
In addition to painting, he also directed the celebrated pavement of the
cathedral of Siena
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominati ...
from 1517 to 1544, a task that took over a century and a half. The pavement shows vast designs in commesso work—white marble, that is, engraved with the outlines of the subject in black, and having borders inlaid with rich patterns in many colours. From the year Beccafumi was engaged in continuing this pavement, he made very ingenious improvements in the technical processes employed, and laid down scenes from the stories of
Ahab
Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Bible. ...
and
Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/ YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books ...
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the Covenant (biblical), special ...
and of Moses. He made a triumphal arch and an immense mechanical horse for the procession of the
emperor Charles V
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...
on his entry into Siena.
Critical assessment and legacy
Compared to the equilibrated, geometric, and self-assured Florentine style, the Sienese style of painting edges into a more irrational and emotionally unbalanced world. Buildings are often transected, and perspectives awkward. The setting is often hallucinogenic; the colors, discordant. For example, in the ''Nativity'' ( Church of San Martino) hovering angels form an architectural hoop, and figures enter from the shadows of a ruined arch. In his ''Annunciation'', the Virgin resides in a world neither in day or dusk, she and the Angel Gabriel shine while the house is in shadows. In ''Christ in Limbo'' ( Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena), an atypically represented topic, Christ sways in contrapposto as he enters a netherworld of ruins and souls. S. J. Freedberg compares his vibrant eccentric figures to those of the Florentine
mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, 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 Ita ...
contemporary
Rosso Fiorentino
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 in Gregorian style, or 1494 according to the calculation of times in Florence where the year began on 25 March – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Red Florentine" in Italian) ...
, yet more "optical and fluid". While all the elements of the expected religious scenes are here, it is like a play in which all the actors have taken atypical costumes, and forgotten some of their lines.
In Medieval Italy,
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
had been an artistic, economic, and political rival of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
; but wars and natural disasters caused a decline by the 15th century. Stylistically, Beccafumi is among the last in a line of Sienese artists, a medieval believer of miracles awaking in Renaissance reality.
Partial anthology of works
*''The Miraculous Communion of St Catherine of Siena'' (1513) -
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
*''Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata'' (1513) - J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
*'' Trinity Triptych'' (1513) - Oil on wood, 152 x 228 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
*'' Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist'' (c.1514-1515) - Uffizi, Florence
*''Marriage of St Catherine'' (1514–1515) - Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
*'' Bellanti Madonna'' (c.1515) - Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
*'' St. Paul'' (1515) - Oil on wood, 190 x 150 cm, Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana, Siena
*'' Marcia'' (1519), National Gallery, London
* ''Stigmatization of St. Catherine of Siena'' (1515) - Oil on wood, 208 x 156 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
*''The Betrothal of the Virgin'' (1518) - Fresco, 295 x 304 cm,
Oratory of San Bernardino, Siena
The Oratory of the Compagnia di San Bernardino is a place of worship in the Piazza San Francesco in Siena. Elevated to minor basilica status in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, it adjoins rooms housing the diocesan museum. It is notable for its frescoes fro ...
*''
Tanaquil
Tanaquil ( Etruscan: ''Thanchvil'') was the queen of Rome by marriage to Tarquinius Priscus, fifth king of Rome.
Life
The daughter of a powerful Etruscan family in Tarquinii, Etruria, Tanaquil thought her husband would make a good leader, but s ...
'' (1519) - Oil on wood, 92 x 53 cm, National Gallery, London
*''Self Portrait'' (1520)
*''
The Story of Papirius
''The Story of Papirius'' is a painting by Domenico Beccafumi, executed ''c.'' 1525–1530, now in the National Gallery, London, to which it was presented by George Salting in 1894.
It shows the boy Papirius brought to the Roman senate by his fat ...
'' (1520-1530) -National Gallery, London
*''St. Lucy'' (1521) - Oil on wood, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
*''Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine'' (1521) - Hermitage, St. Petersburg
*'' Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist'' (c.1521-1522) -
Galleria Palatina
The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the pres ...
Palazzo Pubblico
The Palazzo Pubblico (''town hall'') is a palace in Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. Construction began in 1297 to serve as the seat of the Republic of Siena's government, which consisted of the Podestà and Council of Nine, the elected officia ...
, Siena (1529–1535)
*''The Holy Family with Young Saint John'' (1523–1524) - Oil on panel, diameter 86 cm,
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...
Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
The mystical marriage of Saint Catherine (or "Mystic") covers two different subjects in Christian art arising from visions received by either Catherine of Alexandria or Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), in which these virgin saints went through a ...
'' (1528) - Palazzo Chigi-Saracini, Siena
*''Vision of St. Catherine of Sienna'' (1528) -
Philbrook Museum of Art
Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his w ...
,
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
Allentown Art Museum
The Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley is an art museum located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1934 by a group organized by noted Pennsylvania impressionist painter, Walter Emerson Baum. With its collection of over 19,000 w ...
,
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
* Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taz ...
*''Venus and Cupid with Vulcan'' (1528) -
New Orleans Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...
Flight of Clelia and the Roman Virgins
Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This c ...
Pisa Cathedral
Pisa Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of the t ...
*''Drawing for Christ in Limbo'' (Stolen)
* ''Christ in Limbo'' (1535) - Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
*'' Moses and the Golden Calf'' (1536–1537) - Oil on wood, 197 x 139 cm, Pisa Cathedral
*''Saint Bernard of Siena Preaching'' (1537) -
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
*''Saint Anthony and the Miracle of the Mule'' (1537) - Musée du Louvre, Paris
*''Saint Francis receives the stigmata'' (1537) - Musée du Louvre, Paris
*''
Coronation of the Virgin
The Coronation of the Virgin or Coronation of Mary is a subject in Christian art, especially popular in Italy in the 13th to 15th centuries, but continuing in popularity until the 18th century and beyond. Christ, sometimes accompanied by God th ...
'' (1539) -Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
*''Birth of the Virgin'' (1543) - Oil on wood, 233 x 145 cm, Accademia, Siena
*'' Sarteano Annunciation'' (c.1546) - Oil on canvas, San Martino in Foro,
Sarteano
Sarteano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about southeast of Siena.
Sarteano is particularly important from the historical point of view. Located betwe ...
*''Coronation of the Virgin'' (1540s) - Santo Spirito, Siena
*''Madonna with infant and St. John'' (1540) - Oil on panel, 90 x 65 cm,
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica
The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica or National Gallery of Ancient Art is an art museum in Rome, Italy. It is the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome – mostly from before 1800; it does not hold any antiquities. It has two ...
, Rome
*''Holy Family with Angels'' -
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...
Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinak ...
,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
*Statues of Angels (1548–1550) - Presbytery of
Siena Cathedral
Siena Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
It was the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Siena, and ...
*''Judith with the Head of Holofernes'' - The Wallace Collection, London.
* Drawing of Abraham
* St. Peter - -Woodcut,
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egypt ...
* Angels drawing (1524–25) -San Francisco
Gallery
File:Beccafumi Palazzo Pubblico 02.JPG, Frescoes at Palazzo Pubblico in Siena
File:Domenico Beccafumi 001.jpg, ''Allegory of Concord'' (1532-1535)
File:Domenico Beccafumi 002.jpg, ''Caritas'' (1532-1535)
File:Domenico Beccafumi - Penelope - WGA01540.jpg, ''Penelope'' (1514)
File:Domenico Beccafumi - Public Virtues of Greek and Roman Heroes- The Sacrifice of King Codron of Athens - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Sacrifice of King Codrus of Athens'' (1529 - 1535)
File:Domenico Beccafumi 008.jpg, ''Tribune Publius Mucius Scaevola sends his allies to the stake'' (1532-1535)
File:Domenico Beccafumi 048.jpg, ''Birth of Christ'' (1523-1524)
File:Domenico Beccafumi - The Annunciation - WGA01551.jpg, Annunciation, ''The Annunciation'' (1545)
File:Domenico Beccafumi - De heilige Catharina ontvangt de stigmata - 2898 (OK) - Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.jpg, '' Saint Catherine receives the
stigmata
Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet.
Sti ...
'' (1545)
File:Domenico Beccafumi - Stigmatization of St Catherine of Siena - WGA01536.jpg, ''Stigmatization of St Catherine of Siena'' (1515)
File:Beccafumi - Natività di Gesù, Museo Diocesano.jpg, ''Nativity of Jesus'',
Diocesan Museum
A diocesan museum is a museum for an ecclesiastical diocese, a geographically-based division of the Christian Church.
Austria:
* Diocesan Museum, Graz, Styria
* Gurk Treasury, Carinthia
* Diocesan Museum, Linz, Upper Austria
* Cathedral Muse ...
References
*''Painting in Italy 1500–1600'', S.J. Freedberg, (Penguin History of Art, 2nd Edition, 1983).