SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO

A Venetian painter who migrated to Rome, Sebastiano del Piombo mixed Venetian and Roman artistic manners to create a unique style that found success in sixteenth-century Rome. From Venice, Italy, Sebastiano may have studied painting with Giorgione, as revealed in similarities between their work. Accord­ing to Giorgio Vasari,* Sebastiano and Giorgione shared another quality: they were both talented musicians. After Giorgione s death, Sebastiano accompanied Agostino Chigi in 1511 to Rome to work in his villa (now called the Villa Farnesina), where he painted beside Raphael* and Baldassare Peruzzi.* Around 1512-13 Michelangelo* befriended the artist, and the two maintained a close relationship for several years and collaborated on several occasions, with Michelangelo providing the preliminary designs and Sebastiano executing the final work. In theRaising of Lazarus(London, National Gallery), painted for Cardinal Giulio de' Medici in competition with Raphael'sTransfiguration(Rome, Vati­can), Michelangelo's participation was most likely limited to designs for some of the figures. Their collaborative efforts found success in Rome and established Sebastiano on the artistic scene. This professional and personal relationship had tremendous artistic consequences for Sebastiano, forever changing his painting style as he combined monumental, muscular, and sculptural forms inspired by the art of Michelangelo with a Venetian coloring, soft and refined modeling, and depth of expression. With the death of Raphael in 1520, Sebastiano became the most important painter in Rome and received numerous commissions. Com­mended by both Michelangelo and Vasari for his portraits, Sebastiano combined a realistic and tangible presence with a monumentality and poise mixed with a sense of intimacy that made him the supreme portrait painter in Rome. In 1531 he received the office ofpiombatore, (Keeper of the papal seal—hence his nickname) in the Vatican for his loyalty to Pope Clement VII. With the secure and handsome income this position provided him, Sebastiano continued painting until his death.

M. Hirst, Sebastiano del Piombo, 1981.