Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli (approx. 1458–1496) was an Italian painter of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

period.

Biography

Pietro Orioli was born 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 ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. The art of Siena has previously been celebrated primarily for its late medieval masters such as

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ) was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Ducc ...

Simone Martini Simone Martini ( – 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a pupil ...

, as well as

Ambrogio Ambrogio is a given name, and may refer to: *Saint Ambrogio (Ambrose), patron saint of Milan *Ambrogio Lorenzetti ( – 1348), painter *Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, the birth name of Pope Pius XI *Ambrogio Bergognone, Renaissance painter *Ambr ...

and

Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their artistry and experiments with three-dimen ...

; Orioli arose in the next century, and the art in Siena of this period has been generally overshadowed by the art of Florentine masters of the

Quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

. In 1458 the Sienese cardinal Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini was elected as

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

. The period between this date and the end of the Sienese republic in 1558 saw the development of a unique style of art from the city state, showing tendencies towards some of the more ethereal properties of the golden age of Sienese art rather than the studied realism and veneration of classical aesthetics and principles which drove many artists within the more celebrated centres of Florence, Rome and Venice. The artistic development along the line of more international Gothic styles would have meant that these more famous artistic schools would probably have considered contemporary Sienese art somewhat archaic and unfashionable. Orioli had a relatively short artistic career (he died aged 37, and was only active independently from 1480), but his work is nonetheless important in the context of Sienese art. He was a pupil of the painter

Matteo di Giovanni Matteo di Giovanni (c. 1430 – 1495) was an Italian Renaissance artist from the Sienese School. Biography Matteo di Giovanni di Bartolo was born in Borgo Sansepolcro around 1430. His family relocated to Siena and he is firmly associated with ...

who was very much a product of the quattrocento Sienese school. He is also known to have worked with the celebrated

Francesco di Giorgio Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501) was an Italian architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, and writer. As a painter, he belonged to the Sienese School. He was considered a visionary architectural theorist—in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms ...

, a painter, sculptor and former pupil of probably the most famous Sienese sculptor of the period Il Vecchietta. It is therefore possible to deduce that Orioli was active within a circle of quintessentially Sienese artists. His first documented work is ''Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles'' (1489), found in the Baptistry in Siena. Other important works include ''Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and a Female Saint'' (c. 1490), a ''Nativity'' (c. 1494–96), and an ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' dating to the last part of his career. Stylistically, Orioli's work seems to related be to that of his Florentine contemporary, Botticelli. His painting can similarly be described as 'non-realist'. He uses pale hatching unrelated to the landscape or architecture to reinforce the contours of his figures in a way that is similar to Botticelli's ''St Zenobius panels'' in 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 over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

, London. Botticelli in fact uses this device later than Orioli, suggesting that either the two knew each other, or Botticelli regarded the Sienese artist very highly. Orioli's works, though very much a part of his city's artistic school, also show some more Florentine traits. His figures have a characteristically Sienese mystical quality, but also show a careful adherence to the rules of human anatomy and perspective. This can be seen most obviously in his c.1493 work ''Sulpitia''. This was part of a series of panels, the others being ''Judith'' by Matteo di Giovanni, ''Artemisia'' by the

Master of the story of Griselda Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and ''Claudia Quinta'' by Neroccio di Landi and the Master of the Story of Griselda (all Sienese). Whilst the latter paintings show varying degrees of success in presenting their characters realistically on painted plinths, Orioli's stands much more believably. Furthermore, when seen together Orioli's figure has a dramatic, fulsome quality, with a naturalistic pose compared to the other figures which are demonstrably within the Gothic tradition of awkward, stylised poses. Orioli was stylistic similar to the contemporaries operating within his home city, as well as being related to the highly celebrated Florentine Botticelli, who he may have influenced. His work differs from that of some of his kinsmen, however, in showing what would have been seen by those outside Siena as a more modern approach. Among his followers would be Pietro di Domenico Petrini.Painting in Renaissance Siena
by Keith Christiansen, Laurence B. Kanter, Carl Brandon Strehlke, page 345.

References

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Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orioli, Pietro Di Francesco Degli 1450s births 1496 deaths 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Renaissance painters Painters from Siena