Domenico di Pace Beccafumi

Domenico di Giacomo di Pace Beccafumi called il Mecherino (* around 1486 in Siena, probably in Montaperti (now part of the municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga); † May 18, 1551 in Siena) was an Italian painter and sculptor of Mannerism.

Life

Beccafumi was born as the son of Giacomo di Pace peasants who worked for Lorenzo Beccafumi. He, too, entered the service Beccafumi and was practically adopted by him. His adoptive father recognized his artistic talent early on and had him trained in Siena.

1510 Beccafumi went for two years to Rome. There he was, came from the conservative Siena, where you can still painted according to the principles of the 15th century, study the revolutionary works of Roman Renaissance, such as Raphael punching or possibly the then already partially completed ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. He also learned in Rome know works of antiquity, as well as images Florentine painters of the Renaissance. From his early days in Siena and Rome, however, none of his works have survived.

Back in Siena, he received a number of public jobs for the community, for the cathedral and for the Oratorio di San Bernardino, as well as for private clients. He worked on frescoes for the Cappella del Manto in urban Hospital Santa Maria della Scala and for the facade of the Palazzo Borghesi, for which, however, only the design drawings have been preserved. As of 1519 originated in the Palazzo Venturi an allegorical fresco cycle on the topic of family virtue. 1529 he painted the ceiling in the Sala del Concistoro in the Palazzo Pubblico. In 1519 he was commissioned to produce designs for the facilities of figurative marble floor in the cathedral, where he worked for the next 30 years until his death. For his private bourgeois and aristocratic authority he painted a series of large and small altarpieces and devotional images. He also worked as an illustrator of manuscripts. Beccafumi also worked as a sculptor. So there is an equestrian statue of him Emperor Charles V. and bronze angels on the main altar and the pillars of the Sienese Duomo next to him. In the last years of his life he experimented with woodcut techniques.

Beccafumi never was a court painter to one of the Italian royal courts, the brief stay at 1540 Andrea Doria in Genoa remained the exception. Almost all of his work can be seen in Siena, images in European museums are rare.

Works

• Meeting of Joachim and Anna, 1513, fresco in the Cappella del Manto, Siena
• Trinity with Saints, 1513, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena
• Frescoes in the Oratorio di San Bernardino, 1518, Siena
• The Holy Michael distributes the rebellious angels, around 1524, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
• The Holy Michael distributes the rebellious angels, 1528, San Niccolò del Carmine, Siena
• Holy Family. Holztondo, 1520, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
• Madonna Enthroned with Saints, 1528, Siena
• Christ in Limbo, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
• Holy Family. Palazzo Pitti, Florence
• Moses smashed the Tablets of the Law, 1537, Altarpiece, Cathedral of Pisa
• Madonna with the Christ Child and the Infant John the Baptist, Palazzo Barberini, Rome
• The Birth of the Virgin, Siena
• Venus, The Barber Institute of Arts, Birmingham
• Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, Monte dei Paschi, Siena
• Floor in the Cathedral of Siena, 1519-1551