Saint Paul Enthroned

Last updated
Saint Paul Enthroned (c. 1515) by Domenico Beccafumi Domenico Beccafumi 066.jpg
Saint Paul Enthroned (c. 1515) by Domenico Beccafumi

Saint Paul Enthroned is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Siena. On the basis of its style it is dated to c. 1515, before his St Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata and after his trip to Rome, where he had come into contact with Sodoma and Florentine artists of the period. The figure of Saint Paul draws on the prophets in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling whilst those in the background draw on Dürer and Piero di Cosimo. [1]

It was commissioned by the Corte degli Uffiziali di Mercanzia for the now-destroyed church of San Paolo in Siena. It was mentioned as a "tavoletta" (small canvas) "made by Domenico when he was young" in Vasari's Lives of the Artists , though that author may not have seen the work himself and no document survives with direct references to the commission. A preparatory drawing for the figures of the Madonna and Child at the top survives in the Uffizi's Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe (1527 F). Either side of the saint are scenes of his conversion on the road to Damascus and his martyrdom. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fra Bartolomeo</span> Italian Renaissance painter (1472–1517)

Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo, also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di San Marco, Paolo di Jacopo del Fattorino, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Italian Renaissance painter of religious subjects. He spent all his career in Florence until his mid-forties, when he travelled to work in various cities, as far south as Rome. He trained with Cosimo Rosselli and in the 1490s fell under the influence of Savonarola, which led him to become a Dominican friar in 1500, renouncing painting for several years. Typically his paintings are of static groups of figures in subjects such as the Virgin and Child with Saints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sienese School</span> Painting style developed in the 14th century Siena

The Sienese School of painting flourished in Siena, Italy, between the 13th and 15th centuries. Its most important artists include Duccio, whose work shows Byzantine influence, his pupil Simone Martini, the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Domenico and Taddeo di Bartolo, Sassetta, and Matteo di Giovanni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siena Cathedral</span> Medieval church in Tuscany, Italy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domenico Beccafumi</span> Italian painter (1486–1551)

Domenico di Pace Beccafumi was an Italian Renaissance-Mannerist painter active predominantly in Siena. He is considered one of the last undiluted representatives of the Sienese school of painting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventura Salimbeni</span> Italian painter (1568–1613)

Ventura di Archangelo Salimbeni was an Italian Counter-Maniera painter and printmaker highly influenced by the vaghezza and sensual reform of Federico Barocci.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matteo di Giovanni</span> Italian painter (c. 1430–1495)

Matteo di Giovanni was an Italian Renaissance artist from the Sienese School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Martino, Siena</span> Church in Siena, Italy

San Martino is a Roman Catholic church located on Via del Porrione, in the Terzo San Martino in central in Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy. Adjacent to the church is the Renaissance style Logge del Papa erected in 1462 by commission by Pope Pius II Piccolomini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinacoteca Nazionale (Siena)</span> Art museum in Siena, Tuscany, Italy

The Pinacoteca Nazionale is a national museum in Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Inaugurated in 1932, it houses especially late medieval and Renaissance paintings from Italian artists. It is housed in the Brigidi and Buonsignori palaces in the city's center: the former, built in the 14th century, it is traditionally identified as the Pannocchieschi family's residence. The Palazzo Bichi-Buonsignori, built in the 15th century, was until recently thought to have a 19th-century neo-medieval façade based on the city's Palazzo Pubblico; however, restoration in 2022 revealed that it is mostly original.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincenzo Rustici</span> Italian painter

Vincenzo Rustici was an Italian painter active in Siena. He was known for his religious compositions as well as his vedute showing public celebrations in Siena.

<i>Trinity Triptych</i> Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

The Trinity Triptych is a 1513 oil-on-panel painting by the Italian Mannerist painter Domenico Beccafumi, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena.

<i>Descent into Limbo</i> (Beccafumi) Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

Descent into Limbo or Descent into Hell is an oil-on-panel painting executed c. 1530–1535 by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, now in the Sienese Grand Masters room in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. With the Saint Martin Nativity and Holy Family with the Infant John the Baptist it is one of the last works commissioned from the artist by the Beccafumi Marsili family for their family chapel at the Basilica of San Francesco in Siena. Damaged by a fire in 1655, the painting was seen by Giorgio Vasari, who praised it for the uniqueness of its figures, prefiguring Mannerism.

<i>Sarteano Annunciation</i> Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

The Sarteano Annunciation is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, executed c. 1546. It is located in the church of San Martino in Foro in Sarteano, Italy.

<i>Coronation of the Virgin</i> (Beccafumi) Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

Coronation of the Virgin is an oil-on-canvas painting executed c. 1539 by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, now in the Pinacoteca nazionale in Siena.

<i>Bellanti Madonna</i> Painting by Domenico di Pace Beccafumi

The Bellanti Madonna is oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian artist Domenico Beccafumi, executed c. 1515. Long attributed to Girolamo del Pacchia, Vigni reattributed it as a youthful work by Domenico Beccafumi in 1936, an attribution accepted by most other later art historians. The painting depicts the Virgin Mary glancing downward, holding the Christ Child in her arms. Jesus is in turn clinging on to Mary's collar. Heavily influenced by Michelangelo, its oval format is also influenced by Raphael's Madonnas, as are other Beccafumi works of the period such as the Madonna and Child in his Saint Paul Enthroned. Previously in the Bellanti collection, it is now one of several works by Beccafumi in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, including another Madonna and Child from 1514.

<i>San Martino Nativity</i> Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

The San Martino Nativity is an oil painting on canvas executed c. 1524 by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi. It is named after the church of San Martino in Siena, where it still hangs over the altar in the funerary chapel of its commissioner Anastasia Marisli, who died in 1524.

<i>Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist</i> (Beccafumi, Alte Pinakothek) Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist is an oil-on-canvas painting executed c. 1521–1522 by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi. It is now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, which it entered in 1850. It was previously acquired from the casa Marsili in Siena in 1816 for 975 scudi for Prince Ludwig.

<i>Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist</i> (Beccafumi, Galleria Palatina) Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, executed c. 1521–1522, now in the Galleria Palatina in Florence. The painting's composition is strongly influenced by Raphael. The seraphim in the four corners of the work are thought to be later additions by a Sienese artist, possibly at the end of the 16th century – Judey attributes them to an artist in the circle of Correggio and Sanminiatelli to a generic Baroque-influenced Sienese artist.

<i>Saint Michael Defeats the Rebel Angels</i> (Beccafumi) Painting by Domenico di Pace Beccafumi

Saint Michael Defeats the Rebel Angels or Fall of the Rebel Angels is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, executed c. 1524, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. It was begun for San Niccolò al Carmine, Siena, but left unfinished, with the artist completing another version for the same church in 1526. Vasari's Lives of the Artists mentions the work, stating the artist wished to create "a new invention to show the virtue and good conceits of his soul".

<i>Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata</i> Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, executed c. 1515, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena.

<i>Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine</i> (Beccafumi) Painting by Domenico di Pace Beccafumi

Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine is an oil-on-canvas painting executed c. 1528 by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi. It is now in the Palazzo Chigi-Saracini in Siena.

References

  1. (in Italian) Anna Maria Francini Ciaranfi, Beccafumi, Sadea Editore/Sansoni, Firenze 1967
  2. (in Italian) Rosa Giorgi, Santi, Electa, Milano 2002