Piccolomini Altarpiece

Last updated June 21, 2023

The Piccolomini Altarpiece is an architectural and sculptural altarpiece in the left-nave of Siena Cathedral, commissioned by cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini who expected it to become his tomb. However, he was elected Pope Pius III and buried in the Vatican. It was built between 1481 and 1485 by Andrea Bregno in Carrara marble, with additions in the following decades – these included four niche sculptures produced between 1501 and 1504 by Michelangelo of saints Peter, Augustine (later resculpted as Saint Pius), Paul and Gregory. On top of the altar is the Madonna and Child, a sculpture (probably) by Jacopo della Quercia. The central painting of the Madonna is by Paolo di Giovanni Fei and from the late 14th century.

History

The cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, who became Pope Pius III, intended to construct a monumental altar to dedicate artworks to his uncle Pope Pius II, to celebrate the political and cultural power of his family, the Piccolomini, in Siena, and to establish a site for his own tomb. (In reality, Todeschini was buried in the Vatican after his election as Pope.^[1]) In the site chosen by Todeschini there had once been an altar for shoemakers, depicting the Nativity.^[1] The shoemakers agreed to give the location to the cardinal, provided they received another place within the duomo. Lack of available space, however, meant that the shoemakers still had to share the space with Todeschini.

Todeschini commissioned Andrea Bregno to construct the altar. Bregno worked from 1481 to 1485, as evidenced by the inscription "OPUS ANDREAE MEDIOLANENSIS MCCCCLXXXV" under the central niche where the altar's Madonna and Child are now located.^[1] Bregno, however, did not realize the marble altarpiece that was meant to frame the c. 1390Madonna of Humility painting by Paolo di Giovanni Fei and the 14 statues "in the round" that were meant to fill the various niches and spaces of the altar. The original project included these elements but by 1486, Bregno, now in his 70s, had a breakdown in his physical help. He therefore returned to Rome, leaving the altar incomplete. From then on, only assistants from his workshop labored on the central marble altarpiece, that would enclose the Madonna of Humility.

Given Bregno's departure, Todeschini began to look for sculptors that would be able to make the remaining 14 statues. In the end, he entrusted the work to Florentine Pietro Torrigiano.^[1] But he made only the Saint Francis in the altar's upper left niche. The agreement between Todeschini and Torrigiano was broken for unknown reasons, which forced the Todeschini to find another artist.

On June 19, 1501, with the intercession of the banker Jacopo Galli, a contract was created with the young Michelangelo Buonarroti. Michelangelo had already completed his Vatican Pietà to great acclaim.^[1] As soon as he began to work on the altarpiece, he began to receive other ambitious commission offers, first among them to sculpt the gigantic Florentine David. These offers made the Sienese altarpiece seem too small a work for the young artist. Michelangelo began the commission slowly and only worked on it occasionally.

In 1503, Todeschini was elected pope but died after only 26 days. His heirs convinced Michelangelo, in a new contract dated to October 11, 1504, to complete the statues and the altar enriched by four statues that are found in the lower niches on the sides, realized with the help of assistants. Despite the repeated requests of the Piccolomini family, they did not complete the other envisioned statues. As a result, the archbishop of Siena Francesco Bandini Piccolomini annulled the contract in the 1530s. From then on, the Piccolomini lost interest in the altar, which has remained incomplete ever since.

At the end of the 18th century, the statue of Madonna and Child was placed in the altar's central niche. That statue was believed, until recently, to be the work of the young Jacopo della Quercia, but critics now attribute it to Giovanni di Cecco.^[1] The statue came from the altar of Saint Thomas Aquinas and, before that, the altar of San Jacobo Interciso—both altars in the Siena Duomo. The altarpiece was restored in 2008.

Description

The architectural structural of the altar was inspired by the altarpiece made by Bregno in Rome's Santa Maria del Popolo, with a large niche containing the true altar and surrounded by a triumphal arch. The decoration in bas-relief contains motifs like festoons, garlands, cornucopias, vases, palms, candelabras, winged heads, dolphins, and tridents, among others. The decorations also include numerous half moons, which refer to the coat of arms of the Piccolomini. The decorations higher up were executed with less care than those on the lower levels.

To the sides, above the clients' coat of arms, there is a double register composed of niches framed by lesene, which contain the statues. Two similar niches are in the cornice of the altar, and a larger, central tympanum niche contains the statue of Madonna and Child by Giovanni di Cecco. The Madonna and Child predates the altar by over a hundred years.

Originally, there would have been 14 statues representing all the saints dear to the clients, the Piccolomini family and the city of Siena. Six in the side niches, three in the central niche where the Madonna and Child is now, two on the side pedestals above the cornice, and three on the three pedestals above the tympanum. These were never completed, however.

The remaining statues are, below and on the left side:

Saint Peter by Michelangelo
Saint Augustine by Michelango (later modified to represent Saint Pius
Saint Francis by Pietro Torrigiani, possibly modified by Michelangelo

At right and on the lower level, there are:

Saint Paul by Michelangelo
Saint Gregory by Michelangelo

The central altarpiece painting of the Virgin Mary was a c. 1390 painting of Paolo di Giovanni Fei. Its marble altar frame has received less critical attention because it is believed to have just been the work of Andrea Bregno's workshop.

Bibliography

(in Italian) Umberto Baldini, Michelangelo scultore, Rizzoli, Milano, 1973.
(in Italian)Toscana. Guida d'Italia (Guida rossa), Touring Club Italiano, Milano, 2003.
"Scrubbed up Michelangelo sculptures draw Siena visitors". Italy Magazine. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
"The Statues of Michelangelo". The Italian Tribune. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
Istraëls, Machtelt (2010). "Sassetta and the Guglielmi Piccolomini altarpiece in Siena". The Burlington Magazine. 152 (1284): 162–171. ISSN 0007-6287. JSTOR 40601389 . Retrieved 26 February 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Pius III</span> Head of the Catholic Church in 1503

Pope Pius III, born Francesco Todeschini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 September 1503 to his death. At just twenty-six days, he had one of the shortest pontificates in papal history.

Jacopo della Quercia, also known as Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. He is considered a precursor of Michelangelo.

Siena Cathedral 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.

Sant'Andrea della Valle is a minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the general seat for the religious order of the Theatines. It is located at Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Corso Rinascimento.

Pienza is a town and comune in the province of Siena, Tuscany, in the historical region of Val d'Orcia. Situated between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, it is considered the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism".

The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. Construction began in 1390 and its main facade has remained unfinished since. The building was transferred from the city to the diocese in 1929; the basilica was finally consecrated in 1954. It has been the seat of the relics of Bologna's patron saint only since 2000; until then they were preserved in the Santo Stefano church of Bologna.

Domenico di Bartolo, born in Asciano, Siena, was a Sienese painter who became active during the early Renaissance period. He was inaccurately named by the famous painter, writer and historian Giorgio Vasari as the nephew of well-reputed Italian artist Taddeo di Bartolo, who is featured in Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. By the early 1400s, Domenico di Bartolo was one of Siena's artists most influenced by the new Florentine style of painting. During the time that he was active and working, Domenico was the only Sienese painter to have received commissions by clients in Florence. Domenico was also employed by Lorenzo Vecchietta, otherwise referred to as Lorenzo di Pietro, to work alongside him for the fresco The Care of the Sick, which is today considered a masterpiece of the Pilgrim's Hall in the hospital Santa Maria della Scala (Siena).

The Arca di San Domenico is a monument containing the remains of Saint Dominic. It is located in Dominic’s Chapel in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, Italy.

Andrea di Cristoforo Bregno (1418–1506) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect of the Early Renaissance who worked in Rome from the 1460s and died just as the High Renaissance was getting under way.

Perugia Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Perugia, Umbria, central Italy, dedicated to Saint Lawrence. Formerly the seat of the bishops and archbishops of Perugia, it has been since 1986 the archiepiscopal seat of the Archdiocese of Perugia-Città della Pieve.

Sant'Agostino is a Roman Catholic church in Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy.

San Francesco della Vigna is a Roman Catholic church in the Sestiere of Castello in Venice, northern Italy.

The Madonna dell'Orto is a church in Venice, Italy, in the sestiere of Cannaregio.

The church of Santa Maria Assunta, known as I Gesuiti, is a religious building in Venice, northern Italy. It is located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Campo dei Gesuiti, not far from the Fondamenta Nuove.

Volterra Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Volterra, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is the seat of the bishop of Volterra.

Piccolomini is the name of an Italian noble family, prominent in Siena from the beginning of the 13th century.

The Montemirabile or Saint John the Baptist Chapel, otherwise the Baptistery is the first side chapel in the left aisle in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo.

Santa Maria in Provenzano, or the Insigne Collegiata di Santa Maria in Provenzano, is a late-Renaissance-Baroque style, Roman Catholic, collegiate church in Piazza Provenzano Salvani, in the Terza Camollia, just southwest of the basilica of San Francesco, in the city of Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy. This Marian shrine was built around a 14th-century terracotta icon of the Madonna, which was credited with miracles. The Palio of Siena takes place on the day of veneration of this Marian devotion.

San Francesco is a Roman Catholic church and monastery located in Sarzana, region of Liguria, Italy.

Santa Tecla is the Baroque-style, Roman Catholic duomo or main church in the town of Este, province of Padua, region of Veneto, Italy.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Caglioti, Francesco (2009). Le sculture del duomo di Siena (in Italian). Silvana Editoriale. pp. 174–181.

External links

WGA entry
Media related to Altare Piccolomini at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Caglioti-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Caglioti, Francesco (2009). Le sculture del duomo di Siena (in Italian). Silvana Editoriale. pp. 174–181.

[1]