Domenico Beccafumi Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Domenico Beccafumi
Self-portrait, around 1525–1530
Born	Domenico di Pace Beccafumi 1486 Montaperti, Italy
Died	May 18, 1551 Siena, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Known for	Painter
Movement	Mannerism

Domenico di Pace Beccafumi (1486–May 18, 1551) was an Italian painter. He was active mostly in Siena during the Renaissance and Mannerism art periods. He is known as one of the last important artists from the Sienese school of painting.

About Domenico Beccafumi
Siena Cathedral Floor
Beccafumi's Unique Art Style
Some of His Works
Gallery
See also

About Domenico Beccafumi

Domenico was born in Montaperti, a town near Siena. His father, Giacomo di Pace, was a farmer. Lorenzo Beccafumi, who owned the land, noticed Domenico's talent for drawing. Lorenzo adopted him and helped him learn painting from a Sienese artist named Mechero.

In 1509, Domenico traveled to Rome. There, he learned from artists who were working in the Vatican. However, he soon returned to Siena. Unlike some other Sienese artists who adopted the Roman style, Beccafumi's art kept its unique Sienese look. In Siena, he painted religious scenes for churches. He also created mythological art for private homes. His style was only slightly influenced by the Mannerist trends popular in Florence. His drawings often had a misty, uneven quality with strong colors. This made his work different from the famous Roman masters.

Siena Cathedral Floor

Besides painting, Beccafumi also worked on the famous floor of the Siena Cathedral. He directed this project from 1517 to 1544. The cathedral floor is made of many pieces of marble. It shows large designs created by engraving black outlines into white marble. The borders have colorful patterns.

Beccafumi made clever improvements to how the floor was created. He designed scenes from stories like Ahab and Elijah, Melchisedec, Abraham, and Moses. He also built a grand arch and a huge mechanical horse. These were used for the parade when Emperor Charles V visited Siena.

Beccafumi's Unique Art Style

Compared to the balanced art style of Florence, Sienese painting often looked more emotional and less orderly. In Beccafumi's paintings, buildings sometimes appear cut off. The way things look far away can seem a bit strange. His colors might also seem unusual together.

For example, in his painting Nativity (at the Church of San Martino), angels float in a circle like part of a building. Figures enter from the dark shadows of a broken arch. In his Annunciation, the Virgin Mary and the Angel Gabriel glow brightly. But the house around them is in shadows, making it hard to tell if it's day or night.

In Christ in Limbo (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena), Jesus stands in a twisting pose. He enters a shadowy underworld filled with ruins and souls. Beccafumi's figures are often lively and unusual. While his religious scenes include all the expected parts, they feel like a play where the actors wear strange costumes and forget some of their lines.

In the Middle Ages, Siena was a big rival to Florence in art, money, and politics. But wars and natural disasters caused Siena to decline by the 1400s. Beccafumi is seen as one of the last artists from the Sienese tradition. He blended medieval beliefs with the new ideas of the Renaissance.

Holy Family with St. John

St Lucy, 1521. This painting was featured in the movie The Nun II.

Madonna and child with infant John the Baptist

Some of His Works

The Miraculous Communion of St Catherine of Siena (1513) – J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata (1513) – J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Trinity Triptych (1513) – Oil on wood, 152 x 228 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (around 1514–1515) – Uffizi, Florence
Marriage of St Catherine (1514–1515) – Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
Bellanti Madonna (around 1515) – Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
St. Paul (1515) – Oil on wood, 190 x 150 cm, Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana, Siena
Marcia (1519), National Gallery, London
Stigmatization of St. Catherine of Siena (1515) – Oil on wood, 208 x 156 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
The Betrothal of the Virgin (1518) – Fresco, 295 x 304 cm, Oratory of San Bernardino, Siena
Tanaquil (1519) – Oil on wood, 92 x 53 cm, National Gallery, London
Self Portrait (1520)
The Story of Papirius (1520–1530) – National Gallery, London
St. Lucy (1521) – Oil on wood, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine (1521) – Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (around 1521–1522) – Galleria Palatina, Florence
Frescoes – Palazzo Bindi-Segardi, Siena
Frescoes of scenes from Roman history – Palazzo Pubblico, Siena (1529–1535)
The Holy Family with Young Saint John (1523–1524) – Oil on panel, diameter 86 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Fall of the Rebel Angels (around 1524) – Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
Fall of the Rebel Angels (around 1528) – Oil on wood, 347 x 225 cm, San Niccolò al Carmine, Siena
Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (1528) – Palazzo Chigi-Saracini, Siena
Vision of St. Catherine of Sienna (1528) – Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa
The Baptism of Christ (1528) – Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa
The Nativity – Allentown Art Museum, Allentown
Venus and Cupid with Vulcan (1528) – New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
Holy Family with St. John (around 1530) – Oil on panel, diameter 84 cm, Uffizi, Florence
Holy Family with Saint Anne – Private collection
Flight of Clelia and the Roman Virgins – Uffizi, Florence
Punishment of Dathan – Pisa Cathedral
Drawing for Christ in Limbo (Stolen)
Christ in Limbo (1535) – Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
Moses and the Golden Calf (1536–1537) – Oil on wood, 197 x 139 cm, Pisa Cathedral
Saint Bernard of Siena Preaching (1537) – Musée du Louvre, Paris
Saint Anthony and the Miracle of the Mule (1537) – Musée du Louvre, Paris
Saint Francis receives the stigmata (1537) – Musée du Louvre, Paris
Coronation of the Virgin (1539) – Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
Birth of the Virgin (1543) – Oil on wood, 233 x 145 cm, Accademia, Siena
Sarteano Annunciation (around 1546) – Oil on canvas, San Martino in Foro, Sarteano
Coronation of the Virgin (1540s) – Santo Spirito, Siena
Madonna with infant and St. John (1540) – Oil on panel, 90 x 65 cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
Holy Family with Angels – National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Holy Family and St. John – Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Statues of Angels (1548–1550) – Presbytery of Siena Cathedral
Judith with the Head of Holofernes – The Wallace Collection, London.
Drawing of Abraham
St. Peter – Woodcut, Cleveland Museum of Art
Angels drawing (1524–25) – San Francisco