GENERAL CHARACTER
In addition to the long list of frescoes and paintings which we
have already considered and about which we have been able to obtain
contemporary information, there still remains to be noted a small
number of minor works, of but little relative value as examples of his
art, but bearing some historical importance.
[Illustration:
_Alinari photo_ _Monte Oliveto, near Siena_
HEAD OF SODOMA
(From the Life of St. Benedict)]
Chief among these are the various portraits of himself. The only
thoroughly authenticated one is that of Monte Oliveto, painted, as
we have seen, when five-and-twenty years of age, at the epoch of
his first important commission. It is a young, rugged face, with
blunt, plebeian features, full, however, of intelligence and some
wistful thoughtfulness lying behind the eyes, in spite of the evident
self-consciousness induced by the new clothes. There is a small panel
portrait in the Uffizi, said to be his by some critics. The technique
is heavier than was usual with him in middle life, but it is not
altogether unlike the Monte Oliveto fresco, allowing for the face to
have matured. The hair is long, in curls around the neck, and the short
beard untrimmed. A dress of black, mingled with crimson velvet, the
fine white shirt just showing at the throat, and a dark velvet cap, are
set against a background of dark, sombre sky. It is a face grown thin,
without refinement, a mouth still full and sensual in spite of the deep
hollows under the eyes, as of one who had suffered from neuralgic
pain; but the eyes have the same look that they had in youth; there
is the old contradiction in the face, even as in the work, the dual
elements eternally at war.
[Illustration:
_Alinari photo_ _Uffizi Gallery, Florence_
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST]
The bearded head of the old man in the Pitti (No 382), also said to be
a portrait of himself, is not recognised by critics of authority, nor
does it bear much resemblance to the other two.
Local tradition has further associated his name with the peering head
wedged in between the two tree trunks in his famous “Adoration of the
Magi,” made for the brothers John and Arduino Arduini. Unlike their
fellow-townsmen, these gentlemen were none too generous in their
remuneration to the painters, and Bazzi, never having laid by a penny
in his life, and possibly being in debt into the bargain, began the
famous lawsuit against the Arduini.
This picture, so singularly fitted for the consideration of students,
for it illustrates all his more noticeable characteristics, is still in
the Piccolomini chapel of the church of Sant’ Agostino at Siena. The
head above referred to is that of one of the shepherds, a subordinate
personage rendered suddenly striking by some peculiar realism in its
treatment.
It is neither a beautiful face nor a good face which looks from between
the tree trunks away from the Madonna and towards the gaily harnessed
horses led by negro slaves. But it is undoubtedly a portrait, and
there are many who accept it as Sodoma’s own, in spite of its sharper
features. But the Italian countenance, often full and puffy in early
youth, is apt to assume in later life a sharpness of outline almost
unrecognisable. Della Valle speaks of two portraits of himself, one
of them signed Giovanni Antonio da Vercelli, where he also declares
the honour of his Siennese citizenship, and Vasari mentions that in
the perished fresco at San Francesco, of which there only remains the
fragment now in the Siena Gallery, Sodoma had drawn his own likeness,
clean-shaven and with flowing hair.
Above the gate of San Viene we have another version of himself in
his old age, bearing a brush in his hand, which points towards a
_cartellino_ with the words “Fac tu.” These various portraits,
alternately with and without beard, but show that the painter was a
close observer of current fashion, as befitted a Chevalier of the
Pope’s creation and a Knight-at-arms, and they also enable us to follow
his changeful physiognomy throughout a variety of phases.
There is a good deal of his work in England, chiefly in private
collections. Our National Gallery is unfortunate in having but two very
small and very poor specimens of the master’s work. They are not in any
way representative. The “Madonna under the red canopy with the kneeling
monk presented by St. Peter” is probably one of his late “pot-boilers.”
It was originally in the Rosini collection at Pisa, and may have been
painted there during the last years of the artist’s life, while he was
working at the choir decorations in the cathedral.
The head of Christ, crowned with thorns, was probably part of a much
larger picture, and has been remounted. It is evidently the central
figure of a procession to Calvary, for the head is bent under the
weight of a large cross, the eyes are downcast, and the hands uplifted
as if in prayer. Nevertheless, it is quite shallow in sentiment, and
has none of that peculiar pathos and intensity with which his sincerer
work is imbued.
There is, however, another fragment by Sodoma in the National
Gallery,--the Child in Signorelli’s large altar-piece of the
Circumcision. It appears that the Franciscan brothers, for whom this
panel was painted, objected to Signorelli’s treatment of the infant
Christ, and, on the plea of it having been spoiled by the damp (!),
caused it to be repainted by Sodoma, who also touched up the Virgin’s
face. Vasari gives the historical basis for this theory,[51] and upon a
closer examination of the picture itself we may see that the attitude
of the Child’s legs has been altered, the old outline showing through
the Madonna’s robe, and the whole modelling is obviously by another
hand.
It is to be regretted that our public galleries possess no worthier
specimen of Sodoma’s work.
A very beautiful and highly-finished drawing is to be found, however,
in the British Museum; in the same case as the four authentic
Leonardos. It is in black chalk touched with white in the high lights,
and represents the head of a youth, evidently a portrait. The nimbus,
and the letters I.O. which have converted it into a saint are thought
to be a later addition. The trustees of the Museum regard it as the
portrait of Timoteo Viti by Raphael--probably because it was at one
time in a private collection at Urbino, but Morelli has pointed out to
us the fact that it is probably by Sodoma, and a careful examination
of it, and the chalk drawing in the Uffizi of the young man crowned
with laurel, will, I think, show the same characteristics of line and
shading.
Signor Morelli had himself two fine panels of Sodoma’s, which he left,
together with the rest of his collection, to the public gallery at
Bergamo. One of these is a “Madonna and Child” in the orthodox Lombard
manner, so entirely Leonardesque in treatment that it was formerly
counted among that master’s work. The other, a male head in oils, has
traces of a certain Flemish tendency, a peculiar manner of laying on
the colour which we may observe in the Frankfort portrait and in his
early _tondi_ at Siena. Besides these there are two drawings in red
chalk, one for the figure of Christ in the “Resurrection,” the other of
“St. Christopher crossing the stream.”
Signor Enrico Costa of Florence has a late work, a small panel
depicting the half-length figure of the dead Christ upheld by the
Virgin and Magdalen, a subject which Sodoma never approached in his
early period, but which we find frequent after 1525.
In the sacristy of San Tommaso, Milan, there is a somewhat similar
panel; and we have already described that belonging to Dr. Richter.
The public gallery of Genoa has possessed for some years a “Holy
Family” classified among Sodoma’s late work. It formed part of a small
collection left to the city by Prince Oddone di Savoia, brother of the
late King; and Lady Layard has at Venice, among the collection of her
late husband, a small panel of the “Virgin and Child surrounded by a
glory of angels.”
[Illustration:
_Brogi photo_ _Uffizi Gallery, Florence_
CHALK DRAWING OF A HEAD]
In the vaulted offices under the great Hospital at Siena, now
belonging to the Societa di Eseguzione di Pia Disposizione, is to be
found a “Madonna and Child with St. John,” painted on panel, a charming
little picture of his late middle period, but which has been spoiled by
the little St. John having been retouched and the flesh tints varnished
until they are far too yellow. The Virgin holds the infant Christ, who
playfully toys with St. John’s cross. St. Joseph in a yellow robe is
seen behind the Virgin’s right shoulder, and to her left is an airy
landscape, such as Sodoma loved to paint, with winding river, distant
town upon the water’s edge with all its minutiæ--turret, buttress, and
bridge.
Perhaps one of his most genial characteristics is this great delight
in landscape, which was but another and probably less developed form
of his love for nature shown in the fondness for animals. The tendency
to look more and more at the external world was a growing one in his
day, and painters of such opposite schools as Perugino, Leonardo, and
Titian united in their poetic appreciation of natural scenery and their
recognition of its harmony with man.
In Sodoma the natural beauty seems sometimes to outweigh the human
interest, especially in much of his later work, where the figures are
carelessly done. His stretches of country are nearly always painted
with tenderness and care, as if in age he had grown weary of his
intercourse with men and turned to the mute life of hill and lake and
wind-swept plain for refreshment.
There is, finally, a small number of pictures by him quoted by early
writers, which have either altogether disappeared, or else exist in
remote corners under other names.
There are two early panels mentioned by Della Valle done for the Savini
family, for which Antonio Barili carved the frames; the “Virgin and
Child with St. Joseph holding a vase,” and a “Virgin and Child with St.
Joseph, St. John Baptist, and St. Catherine of Siena.”
Then there was the small panel for the organ of San Francesco, of the
“Virgin nursing her Child,” recently found by Mrs. Richter, and Della
Valle also tells of a _cassone_, or marriage chest, decorated for one
of the brides of the Saracini household, with scenes relative to the
Judgment of Paris.
The picture representing Phaeton falling from the chariot of the Sun
has already been mentioned (see p. 85).
Vasari, speaking of Sodoma’s friendship with James V. of Piombino,
distinctly says that he painted sundry pictures for him, and in the
correspondence between that Prince and the _Signoria_ of Siena, we
remember that James gives as an excuse for Sodoma’s delay in returning
that he was so absorbed in the picture he was painting for him that he
could not tear himself away from it. But we are not told the subject.
Baron Rumohr[52] speaks of having found at Siena certain fragments by
Sodoma treating the metamorphoses of Cephalus, but I have not been
able to trace them; and in the records of that lawsuit between the
painter and the brothers Arduini we remember that part of Biringucci’s
verdict was that the Arduini should restore to Sodoma a round panel
representing the “Virgin and Child, with St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth.”
It is, on the whole, not easy to justly estimate the artistic position
of a man so productive as Sodoma, and so extraordinarily unequal in
his productions, without falling either into the error of viewing him
too completely in the light of his inferior work, and so underrating
his masterpieces, or that of extending an unmerited value to all that
came from his hand. He has suffered from literary injustice in Vasari’s
biassed criticism, he has suffered from technical contempt through his
own defect of over-production, and consequent inequality. The mere fact
that his life was a long one, and his paintings far too numerous, has
crowded out, in popular estimation, the memory of those few works of
absolute genius on which his higher reputation rests.
And much that has been put down to Sodoma’s wayward individuality may,
in reality, be attributed to the general tendencies of his age and the
society in which he lived. It is undeniable that the really great man,
the hero, guides, rather than is guided by, his environment; but we
have not claimed for Sodoma a position among the greatest.
And one has to bear in mind, also, that what his contemporaries sought
in art was less the edification of the mind than the pleasure of the
eye. The sensuousness that had entirely taken possession of Italian
literature was spreading now into the more lately developed field of
painting, and the criticism of either art was directed rather towards
its beauty of form, pleasing line or ringing metre, than to the idea or
sentiment expressed. Painting especially, in seeking thus exclusively
for mere plastic beauty, was losing touch more and more with thought,
and, as it became less intellectual, beginning to lose also some of the
highest qualities of beauty.
The whole of Siennese art had been from the beginning less thoughtful,
less literary than the Florentine; it was the emotional expression of
simpler natures not trained in the subtleties of feeling which the
combined influence of the Florentine scholastics and Greek revivalists
had brought about. Siena awoke late to a knowledge of the classics, and
suffered much less than Florence and Venice from that form of religious
eclecticism which ended in artistic insincerity. But even Siena on
her hill-tops could not escape the general tide of thought which was
sweeping over Europe, and in the transition from the mediæval to the
modern standpoint, she, too, passed through her phase of uncertainty
and affectation.
Sodoma came at the beginning of this phase. What was best in him held
to the old tradition, the sincerity of the Middle Ages. The practical
side of him, the obvious need of bread, carried him along with the
tide; and the sincerity which is found in modern art, the poetry of
realism, was as yet undiscovered. Hence the anomalous character of his
painting, the indecision of his mental bias.
He left a great deal that was showy and trivial; he was often unequal
in the different parts of a picture itself, frequently throwing all
his skill into the working of a central figure and dashing in the
subordinate subjects hurriedly, as in St. Anna in Creta; or else
working but half-heartedly at the ostensible _motiv_, and concentrating
his energy upon the perfection of some lesser group, as in the
Descent into Hades. He had all the advantages and all the defects of
an over-rich artistic imagination, and a bias towards the subtle and
mystic which often degenerated into the production of what was merely
weak.
The sensuality with which not only Vasari but contemporary poems tax
him was probably an integral part of his character, the ardent, fiery,
impressionable artist-nature, as quick to throw itself into extremes of
degradation as to rise to sublimest heights of intuitive faith.
It is the same temperament which we find in St. Augustine, St. Francis,
and St. Bernardino, the vitality which, ill-directed, secures us the
libertine, and, chastened and inspired, supplies the saint.
Sodoma did not become a saint; he remained a sinner and a reprobate
to the end of his life, and died poor and neglected in the public
infirmary. What in others developed into a feverish and ardent piety,
in him remained forever merely potential. It sufficed, however, to give
a particular character to his art. His strength can never be said to
have lain in dramatic grouping or even in proportion of composition.
His abundant fancy led him often to overcrowd his canvas, and a violent
two-fold action going on at the same time induces a great feeling
of restlessness in most of his larger works. He was at his best in
the portrayal of single figures, overwhelmed by some profound or
subtle emotion; St. Catherine swooning in the excess of her religious
fervour, Eve bewildered as she first steps into the light of day, St.
Sebastian uplifted in the wonder of his martyrdom, or, most profound
of all, Our Lord in the hands of the scourgers. If he could not
invest his Madonnas with the great purity of Perugino or Botticelli’s
solemn thoughtfulness, he could at least paint men and women under
the influence of strong and exalted passion, the mysterious sweetness
of whose faces haunts one with persistent power. Unfortunately,
Sodoma, as Rio observes, was too often content to sacrifice quality to
quantity, and, amid all his work, there are only some five or six of
his paintings which can take their place among the great works of the
century.
But it is through the merits of these that his claim to greatness lies,
and one has grown to associate with his name a sense of the dignity of
suffering and the majesty of human nature at its moments of martyrdom
and sacrifice.
Wherever humanity has escaped from its daily round to reach a supreme
crisis of noble emotion, the artist became, as it were, inspired by his
subject and rose to the occasion in art that was both spiritual and
strong.
CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF
SODOMA
ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE GALLERIES
IN WHICH THEY ARE
CONTAINED
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
BUDA PESTH, ESTERHAZY COLLECTION.
Pen drawing of ROXANA as a nude standing figure.
Attributed by von Pulsky to Raphael. _Hungarian National
Gallery_, p. 41-47.
VIENNA, ALBERTINA.
CHRIST CROWNED BY THORNS. Charcoal drawing.
Attributed to Leonardo.
PORTRAIT OF A MAN. Charcoal drawing.
Attributed to Raphael.
Red chalk drawing of figures for MARRIAGE OF ALEXANDER.
“Ce dessin que Rubens avait acheté à Rome, passa depuis dans
la possession du Cardinal Bentivoglio, qui en fait présent au
graveur en médailles Mélan, Crozat l’eut ensuite au sortir
de la collection Vanrose, et le Duc Albert de Saxe-Teschen
l’acquit d’un amateur. Il porte aussi l’estampille du prince
Charles de Ligne.”--Passavant, ii. 441. Quoted by Morelli.
VIENNA, BELVEDERE.
HOLY FAMILY. Panel.
Virgin and Child with infant St. John and St. Joseph.
“The space too much filled up by the heads, disposed in
pairs in a not very happy manner. The drawing is inaccurate,
but the modelling obtained with vigorous light and shade.”
Frizzoni, _Arte Italiana del Rinascimento_, p. 181.
BRITISH ISLES.
LONDON, NATIONAL GALLERY.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS. Panel, 1 ft. 7 in. × 1 ft. 2 in.
No. 1144.
The Virgin is seated on a throne under a canopy, the curtains
of which are drawn back by two angels. The infant Christ upon
her knee blesses a kneeling monk, who is presented by St.
Peter.
_Purchased at Florence in 1883 from Mr. C. Fairfax Murray._
_Formerly in the Rosini Collection at Pisa._
HEAD OF OUR LORD. Canvas. 1 ft. 3 in. × 11 in. No. 1337.
A life-sized head and shoulders in white drapery. The head
bent and eyes downcast, crowned with thorns.
Probably part of a once larger picture.
_Purchased in 1891 from Herr Eduard Habich of Cassel._
BRITISH MUSEUM (PRINT ROOM).
YOUNG MAN IN BLACK CAP. Charcoal drawing. Nimbus and letters I.
O. have probably been added later.
Attributed to Raphael.
_From Antaldi Collection, Urbino._
OXFORD, CHRIST CHURCH LIBRARY.
Pen drawing for ROXANA’S COUCH.
WINDSOR.
(_a_) A sheet containing four pen drawings for the HEAD OF
LEDA, back and front. Hair closely plaited into spirals.
Attributed to Leonardo. All shadows reversed.
(_b_) Pen drawing of LEDA, standing, with one _putto_ beside
her.
Attributed to Raphael.
SIR FRANCIS COOK, DOUGHTY HOUSE, RICHMOND.
ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON. Panel. 4 ft. 8 in. × 3 ft. 3 in.
The saint is mounted on horseback and transfixes the dragon
with his long lance. The Princess, in crimson robes, stands
in the left foreground with hands clasped in terror. A
characteristic landscape, with a castle on a hill, winding
river, bridge, rocky hills and delicately foliaged trees,
places it in date between 1520-25.
_From the Earl of Shrewsbury’s Collection._
_Originally at Siena._
WALTER SICHEL, ESQ., 50 EGERTON GARDENS, S.W.
HOLY FAMILY. Panel. 2 ft. 2 in. × 1 ft. 6 in.
Seated Virgin holding the infant Christ on left knee, and
behind Him is seen the little St. John. In left background an
aged saint (perhaps St. Jerome).
A genuine but damaged early work.
_Formerly belonged to the Rev. A. E. Clementi-Smith._
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, CHATSWORTH.
Pen drawing for Borghese LEDA, kneeling, with her arms around
swan.
Attributed to Leonardo.
CAPTAIN HOLFORD, DORCHESTER HOUSE, PARK LANE, LONDON.
HOLY FAMILY. Circular panel. 42 in. in diameter.
The Virgin kneels in adoration before the infant Christ.
Behind her St. Joseph leans upon his staff. The little St.
John and two kneeling angels are beside the Christ Child.
Landscape background.
COLONEL H. CORNWALL LEGH, HIGH LEGH HALL, KNUTSFORD.
HOLY FAMILY AND ST. JOHN. Circular panel. 3 ft. 7 in.
The Virgin is seated on the ground, the infant Christ
reclining at her feet, asleep. On the left St. Elizabeth,
nursing the little St. John, on the right, behind the Virgin,
St. Joseph. Landscape background with castle.
Early work, but the same period as the Scarpa and Dorchester
House pictures.
DR. RICHTER, 14 HALL ROAD, ST. JOHN’S WOOD, LONDON.
DEAD CHRIST. Panel. 1 ft. 7 in. × 1 ft. 1 in.
Half-length figure of Christ supported by two angels.
On the back is written: 115. _Opera del Sodoma. Al.
Reverentissime Piccolomini. A. G. E. D. i. p. poito_--(sic).
_Bought from Genovesi, Venice, in Sept. 1891._
_Formerly in possession of Pope Gregory XVI., or Clement
XIII._
VIRGIN AND CHILD.
Earliest work at Siena. (See page 10.)
_From San Francesco._
EARL OF WEMYSS, GOSFORD HOUSE, SCOTLAND.
HOLY FAMILY AND ST. JOHN. _Tondo_, 2 ft. 9 in. diameter.
The Virgin is seated and St. Joseph standing, looking over on
to the two children, who are nude and on the ground.
FRANCE.
PARIS, LOUVRE.
DRAWINGS.--No. 87, 88, 94.
CHAMBERY, MARQUIS COSTA DE BEAUREGARD.
CHRIST BEARING CROSS, UPHELD BY TWO FIERCE EXECUTIONERS. Panel.
Three heads, probably one of the Virgin, still visible; the
picture has been chopped about, and two entire figures are
gone. In the right hand corner is the following inscription
in five lines:
Io. Au. Cavalier De Vercei 1500 C. V. Destructa Fuisset
Maserius Reparavit 1541.
This is however, most probably by the hand of a restorer who
made a mistake in its date, for Sodoma was not made Cavalier
till 1505.
GERMANY.
BERLIN, GALLERY.
CHARITY. Panel. 0.87 × 0.49 = 2.10 × 1.7.
A tall female figure in drapery, and loose hair, standing in
an open field, with a nude child in her arms and two others
clinging about her skirts. Landscape background.
FRANKFORT, STAEDEL INSTITUTE.
FEMALE PORTRAIT. Panel.
Young woman in satin dress, richly braided, with puff sleeves
and hanging laces, elaborate jewellery. Gloves in right hand,
left arm rests on table and holds a sort of mace. Through an
open window is seen a mountain landscape, with river.
Attributed to Sebastiano del Piombo. 1504?
HANOVER, GALLERY.
LUCREZIA.
_From the Kestner Collection._
HAMBURG, HERR COUNCILLOR WEBER.
LUCREZIA.
MUNICH, GALLERY.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ST. JOSEPH. Panel. 0.70 × 0.48 = 2.4 ×
1.8. [No. 1073.]
A replica of the “Holy Family” in Turin, but, says Frizzoni,
superior in freshness of execution.
(PRINT ROOM.)
Drawing, washed with water colour, of Diana, surrounded by
her companions and chasing into the forest a satyr and his
companions.
Attributed to Maturino.
Drawing, washed with colours, but much restored, representing
Assumption of the Magdalen.
WEIMAR, PALACE.
Pen drawing for LEDA, kneeling; swan on her left, children to
right.
Attributed to Leonardo. (Braun 148).
ITALY.
ASINA-LUNGA, COLLEGIATA.
MADONNA ENTHRONED. Panel.
Madonna with infant Christ upon her knee, to whom the little
kneeling St. John presents his cross. Standing to the right
Saints Sebastian and Anthony, to the left Saints Louis and
Roch.
About 1537-40.
BERGAMO, BIBLIOTECA LOCHIS.
MADONNA AND CHILD. Panel. 0.32 × 0.42 = 1.3 × 1.4. [No. 136.]
Dark in tone and modelling.
Attributed formerly to Leonardo.
MALE HEAD.
In the manner of Franz Hals.
_Formerly in the Morelli Collection._
BERGAMO, MORELLI COLLECTION.
ST. CHRISTOPHER WITHIN A NICHE. Red chalk drawing.
RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. Red chalk drawing.
FLORENCE, UFFIZI.
ST. SEBASTIAN. Oil on canvas. 2.04 × 1.45 = 6.10 × 4.11. [No.
1279.]
The saint bound to a tree pierced with arrows, and looking
upwards to an angel who brings him a jewelled crown.
MADONNA IN GLORY WITH SAINTS.
This picture is painted on the back of the “St. Sebastian.”
The Madonna is seated upon a cloud, while below her are St.
Roch, St. Sigismund of Hungary, and six white-robed brothers
of the Order, kneeling, with uplifted eyes.
PORTRAIT OF THE PAINTER. Panel. 77 × 60 = 2.6 × 2.0. [No. 282.]
Head and shoulders of a man in the prime of life. Black
and crimson dress, black velvet cap, long hair. Landscape
background.
Frizzoni doubts the identity of this portrait.
DRAWINGS. In upper room:--
421. Madonna and Child with cat in His arms. Attributed
to Leonardo.
563. Silver point. Madonna seated, with dead Christ on
her knee. Study for “Madonna del Corvo” in Via
Stalloreggi, Siena.
565. Pen and ink. Three female figures, first sketch for
“The Vision of St. Catherine.”
566. Pen and ink and water colours. Young man in fur
cloak crowned with laurel.
1479. Pen and ink. Nude figure of Roxana with _putti_.
1506. Pen and ink. Two nude figures, with _putti_ and
various heads.
1507. Pen and ink on grey paper. Two nude figures
upholding a female form. Study for “The Vision
of St. Catherine.”
1644. Pen and ink. Ceiling study for the myth of Phaeton.
1936. Red chalk. St. Christopher, with bare legs, staff in
hand and Child on shoulder. Upper portion treated
separately. Study for the picture in the Spada
Gallery, Rome.
1937. Red chalk. St. James robed as a pilgrim.
1938. Red chalk on yellowish paper. “Rape of the Sabines.”
1939. Red chalk. St. Victor with raised sword.
1943. Pen and ink on greenish paper. Design for the
decoration of one of the chapels of the SS.
Annunziata.
In engraving department:--
1932. Pencil on tinted paper. Figure of man, apparently
St. Jerome.
1935. Red Chalk. Two sleeping soldiers, evidently study
for “Resurrection” at Siena.
1944. Pen drawing, washed with colour and Chinese
white. Christ going to Calvary.
1945. Pen and Chinese white on yellow paper. Pietà.
Dead Christ on the knees of Eternal Father;
Holy Spirit above, two saints and various women.
1942. Pen and ink on yellowish paper. “St. Catherine’s
Vision.”
Finished drawing with date 1526 on pillar. Doubtfully
ascribed to Sodoma.
FLORENCE, REFECTORY, MONTE OLIVETO.
THE LAST SUPPER. Fresco.
Our Lord seated at table with four of the disciples. St. John
asleep upon his bosom, St. Peter to right, Judas on nearer
side of the table looking towards spectator and another
disciple near him. 1515.
FLORENCE, SIGNOR ENRICO COSTA’S COLLECTION.
PIETÀ. Panel.
Half figure of dead Christ upheld by Virgin and Magdalen.
Late.
FLORENCE, PITTI PALACE.
PORTRAIT OF A MAN IN RED CAP.
PIETÀ.
GENOA, GALLERY.
HOLY FAMILY. Panel.
_Left to the city by Prince Oddone di Savoia._
SAN GEMIGNANO, PRISON CHAPEL.
ST. IVES. Fresco, in Monochrome.
A scene in two compartments divided by a pillar. To the left
St. Ives at a canopied desk administering justice to a crowd
of petitioners. Two _putti_ holding the Macchiavelli shield.
In the compartment to the right five male figures waiting.
1507.
SAN GEMIGNANO, ON THE WALL OF LOGGIA OPPOSITE COLLEGIATA.
VIRGIN ENTHRONED. Fresco.
Madonna and Child, who turns His head towards Saint
Gemignano. On the other side, St. Nicholas of Bari. Above
are two flying angels, the best preserved part of the whole
fresco.
MILAN, BRERA.
MADONNA AND CHILD. 60 × 53 = 2.1 × 1.10.
The Virgin seated on a bank with infant Saviour, who turns to
caress a lamb. Landscape background with lake, mountains, and
river; vivid sunset colouring. Transparent shadows and warm
flesh-tints.
Early.
_Sold by auction at Cologne in 1890 to Herr Eduard Habich of
Cassel, and by him to the Brera Gallery._
MILAN, DR. FRIZZONI.
PENITENT MAGDALEN. Panel. 67 × 64 = 2.7 × 2.1.
A dark figure in white vest, holding vase of ointment.
In chiaro-oscuro. Very square in drawing.
Middle period.
Drawing.
MILAN, GINOULHIAC FAMILY.
MADONNA AND CHILD. Panel. 87 × 65 = 2.11 × 2.2.
The Virgin has muslin sleeves gathered at the wrists and dark
drapery over shoulders and head, fastened by brooch. Hands
long and tapering, eyes narrow.
In chiaro-oscuro.
Middle period.
MILAN, AMBROSIANA.
Drawing. MAGDALEN BEFORE OPEN BOOK.
MAGDALEN BEFORE CROSS.
Red chalk drawing. HEAD OF LEDA.
MILAN, SAN TOMMASO.
PIETÀ.
NAPLES, GALLERY.
RESURRECTION. Panel. 2.80 × 2.00 = 9.3 × 6.8.
A replica of the fresco at Siena. Three soldiers in act of
awaking, two _putti_ leaning and seated on sepulchre. An
angel flies above Christ.
In cartellino at foot, Io. Ant. eques. Ve. Auct. F. A. 1535.
PISA, CATHEDRAL.
SACRIFICE OF ISAAC. Canvas. 1.97 × 1.35 = 6.7 × 4.6.
Abraham in blue robe and flying crimson mantle brandishes his
knife over the head of Isaac. An angel seizes the knife and
points downward to the ram caught in a thicket.
1541-42.
PIETÀ. Canvas. 2.10 × 1.74 = 7.6 × 5.9.
Our Lord supported by St. John and the Magdalen. Group of
Maries to the left, three men to the right.
Very darkened.
1541-42.
PISA, MUSEO CIVICO.
VIRGIN AND SAINTS. Canvas. 2.88 × 1.67 = 9.7 × 5.7.
Madonna enthroned; to her right St. John Baptist and St.
Peter, to her left St. Sebastian and Magdalen and St.
Catharine of Alexandria.
1542.
_From church of Madonna della Spina._
ROME, CAMERA DELLA SEGNATURA, VATICAN.
DECORATION OF CEILING, EXCEPT THE PANELS. Fresco.
Within an octagon in the centre of ceiling twelve putti in
various attitudes of joy, support a round disc containing
the arms of the Della Rovere. Around them eight scenes in
grisaille.
1507.
ROME, VILLA BORGHESE.
PIETÀ. 0.69 × 0.58 = 2.4 × 1.11. [No. 462.]
Dead Christ supported by Virgin and Saints.
Once attributed to school of Leonardo.
Late.
LEDA. Panel. 1.12 × 0.86 = 3.9 × 2.10. [No. 434.]
Attributed to school of Leonardo.
Thought by Morelli to be a Sodoma till Richter suggested a
copy of an original work now lost.
HOLY FAMILY. Panel. 0.75 × 0.67 = 2.6 × 2.3. [No. 459.]
Madonna with rich head draperies holds divine Child, while
St. Joseph, behind her right shoulder, offers Him a rose.
“Execution good, but vigour and freshness of his early
Lombard days no longer apparent.”--Morelli.
ROME, BARBERINI GALLERY.
A MADONNA, much repainted, bears the name of Bazzi, but is
probably by a Bolognese.
ROME, VILLA FARNESINA.
MARRIAGE OF ALEXANDER. Fresco.
Open colonnade with landscape background, carved bed,
on which Roxana is seated, with attendants and _putti_.
Alexander in centre of composition, and behind him two genii.
1514.
THE FAMILY OF DARIUS BEFORE ALEXANDER. Fresco.
Alexander stands before a tent to receive the kneeling mother
of the Persian. His wife and family stand behind. Group of
soldiers in right middle distance. Landscape background.
1514.
“These frescoes are not exempt from an excess of plentitude,
but a freshness and rarity of effect which Raphael himself
could not obtain.”--Burckhardt, _Cicerone_.
ROME, DONNA LAURA MINGHETTI.
HOLY FAMILY. Round panel.
The Virgin, with flowing parted hair, bends over the two
children. Little St. John holds his cross, and two saints
watch from behind.
Early.
ROME, PALAZZO CHIGI.
THE PERSECUTION OF RHEA SILVIA? Panel.
A composition of small figures struggling around a woman, two
children clinging about her lead to the supposition that it
may represent the casting out of Rhea Silvia and Romulus and
Remus.
ROME, PALAZZO SPADA.
ST. CHRISTOPHER. Panel.
St. Christopher crossing the river with infant Christ upon
his shoulders.
A red chalk drawing for this exists in the Uffizi.
SIENA, GALLERY.
DEPOSITION. Tempera, on wood. 4.56 × 2.71 = 15.3 × 9.0. [X. 13.]
The body of Our Lord being lowered from the Cross by St.
Peter and Joseph of Arimathea. Beneath, a group of women
about the fainting Virgin, the centurion, and a soldier.
1502(?).
_From the Cinozzi chapel in San Francesco._
NATIVITY. Circular panel in tempera. 1.11 = 3.10. [X. 11.]
Before a shed of broken brickwork kneel the Virgin and St.
Joseph, with an angel holding the infant St. John, adoring
the Christ Child laid upon the hem of His mother’s robe.
Early.
_From the Monastery of Lecceto._
GETHSEMANE. Fresco. 2.36 × 1.17 = 7.11 × 3.11. [X. 2.]
Our Lord kneels in prayer upon a little mound, beside which
are the three disciples sleeping. An angel brings Him the cup.
1525.
_From the suppressed Compagnia di Sta. Croce._
DESCENT INTO HADES. Fresco. 2.36 × 1.60 = 7.11 × 5.4. [X. 46.]
A curved piece of fresco painting, removed from a niche.
The Risen Christ, holding a banner and robed in white, bends
towards Abel, whom He raises from the earth. Behind Him stand
Adam and Eve (the latter a very beautiful figure) and other
Old Testament characters.
1525.
_From the suppressed Compagnia di Sta. Croce._
CHRIST BOUND TO THE COLUMN. Fresco. 1.35 × 1.01 = 4.7 × 3.4.
[VIII. 27.]
The figure is semi-nude, crowned by thorns, and bound to
a porphyry column, which formed part of a colonnade. Two
fragments of gross red arms are all that remain of the crowd
of tormenting soldiers. A faint landscape of sea-shore with
the sun drawing water is visible.
This fresco is one of Sodoma’s masterpieces, and rivals the
St. Sebastian in expression.
Date uncertain, between 1510 and 1515.
_Brought in 1842 from the cloister of San Francesco._
JUDITH. Tempera, on wood. 0.84 × 0.47 = 2.9 × 1.6.
The figure of the girl, clad in orange and electric blue,
stands in a wintry landscape grasping the head of Holofernes
in her left hand and holding a dagger in her right.
Late.
ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA. Panel. 0.39 × 24 = 1.3 × 1.0. [VIII. 32]
The black and white robes of the nun are relieved by a
brilliant yellow glory behind her, in which angel faces are
faintly suggested. She reads from a book which is resting
upon a skull held in her left hand.
FOUR PANELS BELONGING TO A BIER. Tempera.
(_a_) Virgin and Child holding bird in left hand; two figures
in background crowned with vine and shamrock.
(_b_) Dead Christ supported by two female figures.
(_c_) Virgin holding playful Child; two angels adoring.
(_d_) Two green-robed brothers kneeling beside jewelled
cross; five angel heads in cloud above.
1527.
SIENA, ST. AGOSTINO.
ADORATION OF THE MAGI. Tempera, on wood. 3.34 × 2.02 = 11.0 ×
6.9.
Beside a ruined shed the Virgin holding her Child, before
whom kneels the aged king, Baldassare. Gaspar and Melchior
stand behind him, offering vases of ointment, and followed by
a crowd of servants and horses. St. Joseph stands behind the
Madonna.
Inscription: _Ascanius Piccolomineus Archiepiscopus Senarum
quintus_.
1518.
SIENA, SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN. Fresco. 2.78 × 2.88 = 9.3 × 9.7.
Under an open colonnade, at the top of a low flight of steps,
the high priest bends to receive the Child, who turns back
towards St. Anna. The foreground filled with two groups of
figures, women to the left, a group of men to the right,
headed by a stalwart youth in orange red.
1518.
THE SALUTATION. Fresco. 2.78 × 2.88 = 9.3 × 9.7.
Within the temple, before an alcove, St. Elizabeth bows
before the Virgin, who gently raises her. An elderly male
figure, probably Zacharias, poses the left hand upon St.
Elizabeth’s shoulder. To right and left groups of women and
children.
1518.
THE ASSUMPTION. Fresco. 2.78 × 2.88 = 9.3 × 9.7.
Around a golden glory a semicircle of angels support and
uplift the white-robed figure of the Virgin. Immediately
below her the open tomb, filled with flowers, and engraved
upon it, _Si cor non orat, invanum lingua laborat_. To right
and left are grouped the apostles; to right St. Thomas
receives the girdle which the Virgin lets fall.
1532.
THE CORONATION. Fresco. 2.78 × 2.88 = 9.3 × 9.7.
The Virgin kneels in the centre of the picture, while Our
Lord places the crown upon her brow. Behind Him are Adam,
Eve, and other Biblical characters. To the left hand, St.
John Baptist, etc. Above, two groups of angels play musical
instruments, and a circle of _putti_ play round the central
glory where hovers the dove.
1532.
ST. LOUIS OF TOULOUSE. Fresco. 2.78 × 1.26 = 9.3 × 4.3.
Within a painted niche the French bishop stands reading an
open book, crozier in hand and mitred. His robe is blue,
spotted with the _fleur-de-lys_.
ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA. Fresco. 2.78 × 1.26 = 9.3 × 4.3.
Under a similar niche is seen the Franciscan in his brown
robes, holding a book in his right hand and a flaming heart
in the left. In the clouds appears the half figure of the
Madonna and Child. A few leafless trees behind.
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. Fresco. 2.78 × 1.26 = 9.3 × 4.3.
Under a tufty tree the saint stands, clasping a book and
cross, and looking upward to a child angel.
(IN SACRISTY.)
STANDARD. Oil, on canvas. 1.58 × 1.02 = 5.3 × 3.4.
Madonna in red and blue robes. Six cherubs around her, one of
whom holds crown above her head.
Very much retouched.
SIENA, CHURCH OF THE CARMINE.
BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN. Panel. 1.51 × 1.46 = 5.1 × 4.10.
St. Anne in bed, to whom two women present dishes of food,
while three others dress and tend the child, and a man,
evidently Joachim, gazes from behind a curtain.
Very dark and much damaged.
Late.
SIENA, SAN DOMENICO.
THE VISION OF ST. CATHERINE. Fresco. 3.79 × 1.92 = 12.8 × 6.4.
Between two heavily carved and gilded columns the saint, in
her ecstasy, sinks back into the arms of two Dominican nuns
who support her. A distant background with river, ruins and
small circular temple. The figure of Christ, pierced with
the stigmata, which repeats itself upon the person of St.
Catherine, hovers above.
“The beauty of the faces, the expression of tender anxiety
and reverence of the nuns, the divine languor on the pallid
features of St. Catherine, render this fresco one of the
marvels of art.”--Mrs. Jameson.
1526.
THE COMMUNION OF ST. CATHERINE. Fresco. 3.79 × 1.92 = 12.8 ×
6.4.
St. Catherine, in her white and black robes, kneels between
two sisters. An angel brings her the Host with the form of
Christ upon it, and above are seen the Madonna and Child,
Eternal Father, and Holy Spirit.
1526.
THE PRAYER OF ST. CATHERINE. Fresco. 4.96 × 5.04 = 16.6 × 16.9.
A crowded scene, in the centre of which the executioner holds
aloft the dripping head of the thief, while three angels
above receive his penitent soul. St. Catherine kneels praying
in the left foreground, behind the centurion directing the
execution.
1526.
(IN SACRISTY.)
BANNER. Oil, on canvas. 1.90 × 1.37 = 6.3 × 4.6.
The Madonna, in blue robe, ascends from her open tomb
surrounded by flying angels, who scatter pink roses. A golden
glory surrounds her. Beneath is a view of Siena.
(CAPPELLA DEL ROSARIO.)
ALTAR-PIECE. Panel. 2.98 × 2.00 = 9.3 × 6.8.
On high, the Eternal Father, with globe in left hand. St.
Catherine, with dove, and St. Sebastian, bound, on right side
of picture; on the left, St. Dominic, with book in left hand
and right upraised. Above him, a young saint, with crown.
Town of San Gemignano below.
Colouring very dark and heavy.
The fifteen little scenes illustrating the mysteries of
the Rosary, which form the predella, are not recognised by
Frizzoni as Sodoma’s, but considered to be by a scholar.
The centre of this picture has been cut out for a Votive
Madonna.
SIENA, SAN GIOVANNI AND GENNARO.
FOUR PANELS BELONGING TO A BIER. Tempera, glazed. 0.56 × 0.45 =
20 × 18.
(_a_) Dead Christ supported by two angels.
(_b_) Madonna with Child on right arm.
(_c_) St. John Baptist.
(_d_) S. Bernardino of Siena.
1527.
SIENA, SALA DEL MAPPAMONDO, PALAZZO PUBBLICO.
ST. ANSANO. Fresco. 3.15 × 2.27 = 10.6 × 7.7.
Within an elaborately ornamental niche St. Ansano stands,
baptizing a nude figure of a neophyte. Two others kneel and
stand behind him, while a cherub pours water into a vase.
1529.
ST. VICTOR. Fresco. 3.15 × 2.68 = 10.6 × 8.10.
Within a similar niche stands the colossal saint in armour,
holding a naked sword above his head. A cherub clasps his
helmet, and another holds an olive branch and a blue shield,
bearing the word _Liberta_.
1529.
ST. BERNARDO TOLOMEI. Fresco. 3.15 × 2.41 = 10.6 × 8.0.
Under a painted portico stands the saint in white robes,
looking downwards; in his right hand a crozier, in his left a
red book. A group of _putti_ play above the architrave.
1534.
(CHAPEL.)
MADONNA AND ST. LEONARD. Panel. 1.91 × 1.67 = 6.5 × 5.6.
In the midst of an exceeding beautiful landscape, with ruins
of the Colosseum, is seated the Madonna, holding the divine
Child, who turns towards St. Leonard, trying to seize his
Cross. To the left St. Joseph reading.
Perhaps the finest specimen of Sodoma’s late work.
1537 (?).
_From the altar of St. Calixtus in the cathedral._
(SALA DEI MATRIMONI.)
MADONNA AND SAINTS. Fresco. 1.72 × 1.32 = 5.8 × 4.3.
The Virgin, in a blue cloak, caresses the infant Christ,
who looks down towards little St. John. Behind her are St.
Ansano, in red drapery, and St. Galgano, leaning upon his
sword.
1535.
(SALA DEL PRESIDENTE.)
RESURRECTION. Fresco. 2.45 × 1.93 = 8.3 × 6.4.
Our Lord arising from the sarcophagus, over which two angels
bend. Three soldiers asleep in the foreground. A varied
landscape of rock and tree and town.
1535.
(CAPPELLA DEI NOBILI.)
VIRGIN SURROUNDED BY SAINTS. Fresco. 3.87 × 2.50 = 12.10 × 8.4.
Madonna and Child, in red and blue robes, surrounded by
SS. Ansano, Victor, Augustine, and James, and a number of
_putti_. In the lunette of arch the Eternal Father surrounded
by angels, right hand raised in blessing and left grasping a
globe.
Inscription: _Ad honorem Virginus Mariæ Io Antonius Sodona
eques et Comes Palatinus faciebat_ MDXXXVIII.
SIENA, SPANISH CHAPEL, SAN SPIRITO.
A group of paintings consisting of:
Lunette--
ST. JAMES ON HORSEBACK. Fresco. 1.02 × 4.19 = 3.4 × 13.9.
The saint, mounted on a white charger, rides over the bodies
of five prostrate Turks, slashing at them with his sword.
At right hand side--
ST. ANTHONY THE ABBOT. Fresco. 1.85 × 0.44 = 6.3 × 1.5.
The aged saint, in black robe, leans on his staff, with his
pig at his feet.
On left hand--
ST. SEBASTIAN. Fresco. 2.12 × 0.57 = 7.0 × 1.10.
A nude figure bound to a broken marble column and pierced by
arrows.
Lunette above altar--
MADONNA INVESTING ST. ILDEFONZO. Canvas. 1.54 × 2.03 = 5.1 ×
6.10.
The Virgin stoops to throw a white chasuble over the Spanish
saint, who kneels before her with clasped hands. Two angels
stand behind her, and St. Lucy and St. Rosalie kneel at the
sides.
On right hand--
ST. MICHAEL SLAYING THE DRAGON. Canvas. 1.79 × 0.55 = 5.11 ×
1.10.
On left hand--
ST. NICCOLÒ TOLENTINO. Canvas. 1.75 × 0.55 = 5.11 × 1.10.
SIENA, HOSPITAL.
HOLY FAMILY. Panel. 0.78 × 0.46 = 2.7 × 1.6.
Madonna holding Child upon her knee, who turns towards St.
John Baptist and dallies with his cross. St. John stands
behind the Madonna’s right shoulder. Landscape background to
left.
SIENA, PORTA SAN VIENE.
NATIVITY. Fresco.
On soffit of arch a glory, with cherub in centre; three
angels on either side singing and pointing downwards to
centre of fresco, where, before a classic temple, kneels the
Madonna with clasped hands, adoring her Child. Groups of
angels on either side and above her.
Inscription: _Deiparæ Virgini pro victoria, libertate et
salute hujus urbis, populus senensis ejus nomini devotus._
A.D. MDXXXI.
“Very ruined, but fine.”--Burckhardt.
SIENA, CASA BAMBAGINI.
PIETÀ. Fresco.
Madonna, in faded blue, with dead Christ upon her knee;
angels’ heads around her.
A very fine drawing for this exists in the Uffizi.
SIENA, ARTE DEI CALZOLAI, PIAZZA TOLOMEI.
MADONNA AND SAINTS. Fresco.
The Virgin and Child, with Saints Francis, John, Roch, and
Crispin with a shoe in his hand.
Quite invisible through dirt and smoke.
1530.
SIENA, VILLA GRICCIOLI. (Formerly the Monastery of S. Eugenio.)
PROCESSION TO CALVARY. Fresco. 2.38 × 1.62 = 7.11 × 5.4.
Our Lord in red, with crown of thorns. Simon bearing the end
of the Cross. St. Veronica kneels to the right, lifting her
handkerchief. Behind her stands the Madonna. In background a
crowd of soldiers.
Faces of Christ and St. Veronica very much restored.
1525. This fresco also came from the Compagnia di Sta. Croce.
SIENA, ST. ANNA IN CRETA.
THE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES. Fresco.
Our Lord blessing the five loaves which a child presents to
Him. Group of disciples behind Him. Landscape background with
Roman arch.
To right--
GROUP OF DISCIPLES. Fresco.
To left--
CROWD OF MEN AND WOMEN WITH EMPTY BASKETS. Fresco.
Above the entrance--
PIETÀ. Fresco.
To right--
ST. ANNE ENTHRONED. Fresco.
Beneath her, the Virgin and Child, flanked by two Olivetan
brothers.
Very much injured.
To left--
A BISHOP STANDING AMID SIX KNEELING OLIVETANS. Fresco.
In soffit of arch--
MEDALLION WITH BUST OF OUR LORD. Fresco.
SIENA, MONTE OLIVETO, MAGGIORE, CLOISTER.
A series of frescoes representing--
1. ST. BENEDICT LEAVING HOME.
St. Benedict, in blue robe and orange drapery, sets off upon
a white horse for the School of Rome, accompanied by his
nurse in pink, mounted upon an ass. His mother and father
stand to the left, and the town of Norcia lies perched upon a
hill in the right middle distance.
2. THE ROMAN SCHOOL.
The students, ranged on either hand under an open colonnade,
are instructed by a professor from a raised throne in the
centre. St. Benedict turns away in disgust to the right.
3. THE MIRACLE OF THE SIEVE.
To the left, within the house, the saint and his nurse are
praying over the broken sieve. Outside, a group of six men
and a child, among whom is the portrait of Sodoma himself
with a crow and two badgers. The mended sieve hangs on the
columns of a temple in the background.
4. ST. BENEDICT TAKING THE MONASTIC HABIT.
In the middle distance to the left the saint is seen
approaching in his blue and yellow robes. In the foreground
is the monk Romano who invests him with the white habit which
was the earliest dress of the Benedictines. To the right he
is seen in his new garb, meditating.
5. ST. DEODATO FEEDS ST. BENEDICT.
At the entrance to a cell, in a clump of rocks, St. Benedict
kneels in prayer. From above, the hermit lets down a basket
of bread with bell attached. The devil, in form of a snake,
glides up to break the cord. Landscape background.
6. ST. BENEDICT’S EASTER DINNER.
A window breaks into the middle of this fresco. In the right
section is seen the priest in red, cooking his Easter meal,
and in the foreground receiving the heavenly instruction to
carry it to the saint. To the left he has spread the meal
upon a rough stone table, and he and his servant wait upon
the saint.
7. ST. BENEDICT PREACHING TO THE SHEPHERDS.
Seven peasants are grouped around him; one, in red cloak
and cap, is seated. An old man in white undershirt carries
a basket of cherries. To the right, a youth, clad in skins,
leans listening upon his staff, a dog at his feet. Landscape
background.
8. ST. BENEDICT’S TEMPTATION.
To the left, the saint sits at the entrance of his cell, a
red Bible on his knee. To the right, he has thrown off his
garments and is rolling in the bed of thorns. A broad plain
with winding river behind.
9. THE HERMITS VISIT ST. BENEDICT.
Six brown hermits kneel, beseeching the saint to become their
leader. In middle distance, to the right, he is seen arriving
at the hermitage.
The heads are full of humour and expression, evidently
portraits.
10. THE ATTEMPT TO POISON THE SAINT.
Beneath an open colonnade St. Benedict, seated at table,
breaks the glass of poisoned wine which five of the
rebellious hermits offer him. To the right he is seen leaving
the hermitage for ever.
11. THE BUILDING OF SUBIACO.
To the right, St. Benedict, with white hood drawn up and
staff in hand, directs the building of the cloister. Two
monks accompany him. A dark man in the foreground is breaking
stone.
12. SS. MAURUS AND PLACIDUS BROUGHT TO THE SAINT.
A very crowded composition, about thirty-three figures
in foreground. To the left, St. Benedict blesses the two
children, who are presented by their fathers, in green and
blue robes. A boy in smart parti-coloured hose and slashed
sleeves looks on, and a centurion in green dress and blue
mantle leans upon his spear to the right.
There is much colour in this fresco, and several men on
horseback.
13. THE HEALING OF A BOY POSSESSED.
A distinctly naïve presentment. Under an altar St. Benedict
and two monks are seen kneeling, while a devil leads away
one of the brothers. Outside, the figure of St. Benedict is
repeated, slashing the shoulders of the truant monk, while
the evil spirit flies away in the air.
14. ST. BENEDICT RAISING WATER FROM THE ROCK.
In background a steep rocky hill. The saint, kneeling, prays
for water, which gushes out of the rock. To the left, he
receives the thanks of a group of kneeling monks.
15. THE MIRACLE OF THE HATCHET.
St. Benedict kneels on a promontory in the middle of lake,
accompanied by young monks, fishing for the hatchet. On
shore, to left, an old monk also fishes. In left distance St.
Benedict blesses two young brothers.
16. MAURUS SAVING THE LIFE OF PLACIDUS.
Under a loggia to the left Maurus relates how his companion
has fallen into the river. On the right, Maurus, sent by St.
Benedict, walks upon the water to save Placidus. Tufty shrubs
grow on the banks.
17. THE THEFT OF THE WINE AND BREAD.
This fresco is broken by a door into two compartments. To the
left, St. Benedict confides flask to kneeling youth in orange
robes; to right, the same youth goes into the wilderness.
This fresco has more colour than those immediately preceding
it.
18. FIORENZO’S ATTEMPT TO POISON ST. BENEDICT.
To the left Fiorenzo confides the poisoned roll to a servant,
who, in the foreground, presents it to the saint, who is
seated at table, being served by the brothers with wholesome
viands, while a crow on the floor eats the roll.
19. FIORENZO INTRODUCES WICKED WOMEN INTO THE CONVENT.
To left, a group of monks with an ass; to right, a crowd of
women, the foremost in shot crimson and green, the second
in sky blue, the third in blue robe with orange mantle, the
fourth in black. St. Benedict, from a loggia above, preaches
repentance to them.
20. THE PEASANT LIBERATED.
St. Benedict, with open book on lectern, raises his left hand
to free a peasant from the ropes by which he has been bound
by two knights. To right, a boy, in red, yellow, and white
hose, orange doublet, and black cap, holds white horse.
21. THE MONK PURSUED BY A DRAGON.
To the left, St. Benedict, with cowl drawn over his face, and
accompanied by three monks, pardons kneeling monk, who, at
right, is represented as being chased by a dragon.
22. DEATH OF ST. BENEDICT.
To the right, a Benedictine gives the Host to a priest, and,
to the left, the same priest, with five white-robed boys
following, lays the Host on the dead body of the Saint.
23. THE FUNERAL MASS OF ST. BENEDICT.
In centre a classical colonnade represents church with gilt
Gothic altar-piece. Three priests in cloth of gold say Mass;
to right, a choir chants from book on lectern. In foreground
kneels a group of women in bright gowns and with elaborately
braided hair. Six men sit on a bench to the right, and, to
the left, two nuns are seen slinking down the stairs.
24. APPARITION OF ST. BENEDICT.
Two monks in bed to the left; St. Benedict bends over them
with model of monastery in his hand. In the open air, to
the right, are seen men building up the red walls of the
monastery.
25. THE MULTIPLICATION OF BREAD.
To the left, St. Benedict and three monks blessing sacks of
flour; beautiful sunset over purple hills seen through open
door. In refectory, to right, six monks at table. A seventh
serves them, and above, from a pulpit, another reads aloud.
26. THE BURNING OF MONTE CASSINO.
In middle foreground, a number of Gothic knights and horses
in gay robes and caps, servants and pages. To right, a
somewhat confused crowd of wrestling figures. In right
background, the Goths are seen scaling the walls of Monte
Cassino and carrying faggots to fire it. To the left, the
tents of the Goths stretch across the country.
Very full of colour.
On stairs--
CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.
Within a _vesica_ composed of tiny cherub heads, Our Lord in
mauve and red, places the crown upon the head of the Virgin.
On cloister arch--
ST. BENEDICT INSTITUTING HIS ORDER.
The saint, in white, in centre of a large hall, hands a book
in either hand to groups of his disciples. To left is faintly
visible half the figure of a man in red cap and gown.
CHRIST BEARING THE CROSS.
Three-quarter figure, crowned by thorns, turned towards
right, turning face towards spectator. Soldier from behind
strikes Him.
CHRIST BOUND TO THE COLUMN.
Figure nude, save for slight muslin drapery. Bound to column
with hands behind Him. Mauve sky and green hills.
1505-1506.
MADONNA WITH ST. PETER AND ST. MICHAEL.
Over the door of the Father-General’s room.
PIETÀ.
On one of the staircases.
TURIN, GALLERY.
MADONNA ENTHRONED. Panel. 2.25 × 1.54 = 7.6 × 5.2. [No. 63.]
The Virgin, in red robe, with indigo mantle turned back with
orange, is seated upon a throne with curtains held back by
two flying _putti_. Beneath her are grouped St. Catharine of
Alexandria in emerald green, St. Jerome with his lion, and
St. John with his eagle, in shades of red brown, and St. Lucy
in emerald green.
The latter and the two _putti_ seem to have been very much
retouched, and the whole panel is highly varnished. The
Virgin, however, seems to be in fairly good condition.
About 1512.
_Brought from Colle in Val d’Elsa, and sold to the gallery by
Cav. Rosselli Del Turco of Florence for 1200 scudi._
HOLY FAMILY. Panel. 0.64 × 0.45 = 2.2 × 1.6. [No. 56.]
Madonna, in crude red and blue robes, before olive-green
canopy. Christ Child playing with bird. St. Joseph,
clean-shaven, peers over her left shoulder.
_From Casa Tolomei, Siena. Sold to the gallery by Baron
Garriod._
LUCREZIA. Panel. 0.99 × 0.76 = 3.4 × 2.7. [No. 59.]
Lucrezia, in bluish green robe and white vest, with red hair,
holds the dagger in her right hand ready to strike. Eyes
raised; mouth, with square corners, slightly open. Collatinus
to her left in dark green. To right a figure in a turban,
which might be that of a female, but which is believed to be
her father. Bust of Tarquin behind.
Very cold in colour, flesh-tints blue.
_From Royal Palace._
TREQUANDA, CASTELLO DI, COLLEGIATA.
ASCENSION. Fresco.
This fresco is doubtfully admitted to be by Sodoma by
Frizzoni, who holds it one of his least successful works.
VAPRIO, VILLA MELZI.
MADONNA AND CHILD. Fresco.
A colossal figure of the Virgin, visible to waist only, with
parted flowing hair, holding the infant Christ upon her left
arm and clasping His right hand with her right. Very unequal
in its drawing.
Ascribed to Sodoma by Morelli and Frizzoni.
Date between 1518 and 1525.
VENICE, LAYARD COLLECTION.
MADONNA AND CHILD. Panel.
VERCELLI, COLLECTION OF SIGNOR AVOCATO ANT. BORGOGNA.
HOLY FAMILY. Circular.
Madonna and St. Joseph adoring infant Christ, with kneeling
angel and little St. John. Much damaged. Formerly attributed
to Cesare da Sesto.
Early work.
_Bought at the Scarpa sale._
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS
1501 Madonna and Child with Saints. Described
by Landi, quoted by Della
Valle, disappeared by end of sixteenth
century
Madonna and Child
Madonna and Child. Placed above the _Found recently,
organ in S. Francesco and now in the
possession of
Mrs. Richter_
1502-3 Deposition _Siena Gallery_,
No. 343
Nativity _Siena Gallery_,
No. 444
Nativity _Vercelli_
Holy Family with Two Angels _Dorchester House,
Park Lane_
Charity. A tondo consisting of two
women and four children, formerly
in the possession of the Chigi, now
belonging to Count Bobrinski
Portrait of Pandolfo Petrucci _Lost_
Portrait of a Saracini Lady _Lost_
Portrait of a Toscani Lady _Lost_
Portrait of a Lady _Frankfort, Städel
Institute_
1503 Frescoes--St. Anne in Creta _Pienza_
Christ multiplying Loaves and Fishes
Distribution of Loaves and Fishes
Bishop with Six Olivetans
Pietà
Saint Anne enthroned with Virgin
Bust of Redeemer
1505-6 Frescoes of life of St. Benedict around _Mount Oliveto_
cloister. The frescoes in the cloister
are twenty-six in number, and were
painted in the following order, turning
to the left, and entering the
cloister from the atrium:
1. Saint Benedict who set out from
Norcia to Rome
2. The Roman School with Master in
Chair and Scholars attending
3. The Nurse’s broken Bushel
4. St. Benedict taking Monastic Habit
5. St. Deodato who hands food over
a rock to St. Romano
6. St. Benedict’s Easter Dinner
7. Shepherds who present the Saint
with Fruit and Vegetables
8. Devils tempt Saint, who throws
himself in a Bed of Thorns
9. Various Ecclesiastics with Saint
Benedict
10. The Poisoned Cup breaks at Sign
of Cross by St. Benedict
11. Building of Monastery of Subiaco
12. St. Maurus and Placidus on Horseback
13. Saint healing a Youth possessed by
a Devil
14. St. Benedict raising Water from the
Rock
15. Miracle of the Hatchet
16. Placidus saved by Maurus from
Drowning
17. Youth stealing Bread and Wine
18. Fiorenzo’s attempt to poison the Saint
19. Fiorenzo introduces the Bad Women
20. The Peasant Liberated
21. Monk pursued by a Dragon
22. Saint Dead with Weeping Disciples
23. Obsequies sung over Saint
24. Apparition of St. Benedict
25. Multiplication of Bread
26. Barbarians burning Monte Cassino
_About the Corridors_
Christ bearing Cross
Christ bound to Column
St. Benedict giving his Order
Coronation of the Virgin
1506 Panel of Christ bearing the Cross
Made for S. Francesco, Siena, where
it perished in the fire of 1655
1507 Fresco of Dancing Cherubs, and work _Rome, Camera della
on ceiling Segnatura_
Madonna _Milan, Brera_
Fresco of St. Ives _St. Gemignano,
Prison Chapel_
1512 Fresco of House-front for Agostino Bardi _Siena_
Quoted by Vasari, “Alla Postierla
dipissue a fresco la facciate della casa
di Messer Agostino de’ Bardi senese,
nella quale erano alcune cose lodevoli,
ma per lo pin sono state consumate
dell’ aria e del tempo”
Madonna and Child with Five Saints _Turin_
1513 Madonna with SS. Gemignano and _S. Gemignano_
Nicolo of Bari
Alexander’s Marriage _Rome, Villa
Farnesina_
Alexander and Darius _Rome, Villa
Farnesina_
1513-14 Vulcan _Rome, Villa
Farnesina_
1513-15 St. Christopher _Rome, Spada
Gallery_
Panel. Believed to be either a Rape of _Prince Mario
the Sabines or the casting out of Rhea Chigi, Rome_
Silvia--described in the list quoted by
Della Valle
Madonna and Child with St Joseph _Turin_
1513-15 Leda. Believed by Richter to be an _Rome, Borghese
old copy of an original, now lost, Gallery_, No. 434
form attributed to the school of
Leonardo
1515 Last Supper _Florence, Monte
Oliveto_
Model of two Apostles in Bronze
1517 St. George and the Dragon _Richmond, Doughty
House_
The Flagellation _Siena_, No. 374
Charity. Attributed originally to _Berlin Gallery_
Baldassare Peruzzi, recognised as
Sodoma’s by Morelli
1518 Fresco of Presentation of the Virgin _Siena, Oratory of
St. Bernardino_
Fresco of Salutation _Siena, Oratory of
St. Bernardino_
Fresco of Assumption _Siena, Oratory of
St. Bernardino_
Adoration of the Magi _Siena_
1518 Lucrezia Romano given to Pope Leo X.
1518-25 Magdalen _Dr. Frizzoni,
Milan_
Madonna and Child _Ginoulhiac Family_
Madonna and Child. Assigned by _Vaprio_
Morelli and Frizzoni to Sodoma, but
still doubtful
Portrait of a Man _Bergamo, Morelli
Collection_
1525 Fresco of Gethsemane _Siena Gallery_,
No. 2
Descent into Limbo _Siena Gallery_,
No. 46
Christ bearing the Cross _Siena, Chapel of
Villa Griccioli_
1525 Bier of the Company of Sta. Trinita. _Siena, S. Donato_
Believed at one time to be by
Beccafumi and Marco de Siena
1525 St. Sebastian _Uffizi_, No. 1279
1526 Bier of S. Giovanni della Morte _Siena, Church of
SS. Giovanni and
Gennaro_
1526 Fresco of St. Catharine _Siena, S. Domenico_
1527 Drawings for Pavement of Cathedral
1529 Fresco of St. Ansano _Siena, Palazzo
Pubblico, Sala
del Mappamondo_
St. Victor _Siena, Pal.
Pubblico, Sala
del Mappamondo_
1530 Frescoes of St. James and Madonna _Siena, St.
Spirito_
Fresco of St. Christopher _Siena, Arte dei
Calzolai_
Dead Christ with Two Angels _London, Dr.
Richter_
1531 Fresco of Nativity _Siena, Gate of St.
Viene_
1532 Fresco of Coronation of Virgin _Siena, S.
Bernardino_
1534 Fresco of St. Bernardo Tolomei _Siena, Pal.
Pubblico, Sala
del Mappamondo_
1535 Fresco of Resurrection _Siena, Palazzo
Pubblico, Sala
dei Matrimoni_
Resurrection _Naples Gallery_
Madonna with St. Leonard
1537 Madonna with SS. Ansano and Galgano _Siena, Palazzo
Pubblico, Sala
della Biccherna_
1538 Panel of James V. of Piombino _Not preserved_
Phaeton falling from his Chariot _Lost, or mistaken
for work by
another master_
1539 Fresco of Madonna and Saints _Siena, Capella dei
Nobili_
1541-42 Sacrifice of Isaac _Pisa Cathedral_
Pietà _Pisa Cathedral_
Madonna and Saints _Pisa Gallery_
QUOTATIONS FROM CERTAIN CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE LIFE OF
SODOMA
ST. ANNA IN CRETA
Extract from the Archives of the Monastery:
“L’ anno 1503 a di 1 Luglio, D. Andrea Coscia da Napoli, cellerario di
S. Anna, convenne con maestro G. A. da Vercelli, pittore, delle pitture
da farsi in refectorio di S. Anna, per sc. 20 d’ oro e le spese. E del
tutto ne appare una scritta di mano del detto cellerario segnata con
questo segno * ... sc. 140¼.”
_Libro Lungo. Segnato O. fol. 95 a tergo._
MONTE OLIVETO
Document referring to the appointment of Sodoma:
“Habitu tamen hoc tertia ejus electionias (Anno 1505 idibus aprilis),
aliquanta et temporis inter capedine et pecuniarum commoditate ...
incoeptum, ut sapientis est, tandem opus complere decrevit. Et
orientalem merdionalemque claustri partem, etsi diverso pictore, haud
tamen inferiore pictura decoravit. Et nisi pictoris incuria adfuisset,
universum ut optabat, jam jam perfectum esset opus.” _M. I._ p. 75.
Document referring to payment:
1505 Giovan Antonio dipentore del nostro claustro deve havere per una
historia, quale ha facta ne la faccia verso l’ uscio del Refectorio,
civè la prima dove sonno le donne che ballano, ducati due d’ accordo:
cosi £70.
Item deve havere per septe altre historie ne la medesima facciata, a
rasone di ducati septe la historia: lire 343.
E più deve havere ducati septanta sette per undici historie, quali ha
facte nel claustro verso el dormitorio de’ vecchi: che sono lire, 539.
E più de’ havere docati otantaquatro d’ oro che sono per dodici storie
che lui ha fate nel claustro soprascripto: che sono lire 588. _Partite
tratte gia dai Libri dell’ Archivio del Monastero di Mont’ Oliveto
Maggiore._
Document referring to his Marriage:
1. 1510 28th October.
Johannes Antonius Jacobi de Bazis, pictor de Verzé fuit confessius
habuisse et recepisse pro dotibus domine Beatricis, olim filie Luce
Bartolomei Egidii, et sorori Bartholomei et Nicholai filiorum dicte
Luce--florenos 450 de libri quatuor pro floreno. _Arch. de’ Contratti
di Siena. Rogito di Ser Alessandro della Grammatica filza dal 1507 al
1515, No. 61._
2. Same date.
Johannis Antonius Jacobi de Bazis, pictor habitator civitatis Senarum,
fuit confessius habuisse pro dotibus domine Beatricis filie. Luce
Bartolomei Egidii alias Luce de Galli flor 450 de libri quatuor
pro floreno. _Arch. del Registro da Siena. Libro delle Gabelle de’
Contratti ad annum, a. c. 103._
A descriptive list of the horses which Sodoma ran the palio of St.
Ambrogio, 1513:
Soddome: unus equos leardus moscatus, ragazzius: Baptista.
Soddome: unus equos morellus, ragazzius: Betto.
1527, unus equos leardus pomellatus sfregiatus: ragazzius, Tempestino
di Modena.
_Arch. de’ Contr. di Siena. Sessione dei quattro di Biccherna, tra le
carte di Ser Achille Bertini._
Document relating to the figures of the Apostles to be cast for the
Cathedral. 1515 22 di Giugno.
Deliberaverunt locare ... magistro Johanni Antonio alias Sodoma
pictori, ad faciendum unam figuram unius apostoli brunzii in Ecclesia
Cathedrali cum illis conditionibus prout locata fuit Jacobo Cozzarelli.
Item locaverunt aliam figuram, et hoc ad beneplacitum operariorum, si
ipsis videbitur. Et quod ipse Johannis Antonius teneatur docere quatuor
pueros dicti Operis Gratis, et sine ullo premio ad pingendum. _Arch.
dell’ Opera del Duomo._ _Libro di Memorie segnato E-G._ a. c. 28 verso.
Documenti--San Bernardino:
1518-31 Dicembre.
Il di detto (31 dic.) ducati trenta si fanno buoni a Messer Giovantonio
detto Soddoma per sua Manifattura della Storia de l’oferta del tempio
della Vergine Maria fatta più di fa.
_Ducati_ 35 si fanno buoni a Messer Giovannantonio detto che sonno per
sua Manifattura de la storia de la incoronazione della Vergine Maria.
_Ducati_ 10 a Messer Giovannantonio detto Soddoma per sua Manifattura
della Storia di S. Francesco de la finestra.
_Duc._ 14 a Messer Giovannantonio detta per la sua manifattura di St.
Lodovico chola finestra.
_Duc._ 8 per la Manifattura della Storia di S. Antonio di Padua.
_Archivio del patrimonio ecclesiastico. Compagnia di S. Bernardino.
Registro C. Entrata e Uscita. Carta 28._
S. BERNARDO TOLOMEI
1534.
Ultimamente per haver ancora noi procurato che la pittura del beato
Bernardo ne la sala del Mappamondo fusse finita dal Soddoma dipentore
de la quale ne ha gia avuto scudi otto, sicome da’ precessori nostri ne
era stato lassato in notula; et havendo esso Sodoma a esser satisfatto
del restante di detta opera quale ne ha condotta a perfettione:
piacerà a V. S. Magnifiche fare che detto Soddoma sia fatto satisfare
de la lodevole opera da Messer Francesco Tholomei dignissimo operaio
de la Chiesa Cathedrale, si come esso a noi et ad detto Sodoma ne ha
largamente promesso.
_Arch. delle Riformagioni di Siena._ _Scritture Concistoriali_, No. 51.
_Notula ai sucessori della Signoria ad annum._
CAPPELLA DEI NOBILI
1536-37, 14 di Marzo.
Per parte de li spettatissimi quattro cittadini operari e comissari del
l’ illustrissimo concistoro dei Magnifici Signori ... a fare dipingere
l’ altare della Cappella della piazza pubblica deputati--voi Crescenzio
Turamini, date e pagate al generoso cavaliere messer Giovannantonio
Soddoma, pittore, deputato a dipengere decto altare, scudi 15, cioè
scudi quindici quali se li danno a buon conto, e per dar principio alia
detta opera, secondo le convenzioni fatte con detti operai.
_Arch. dotto Scritture Concistoriali. Filza 55, ad annum._
1537.
Spese si faranno e fecionsi a la Cappella di Piazza per dipignerla a
di XVII. di Setembre Lire tre che se li fan buoni a Ugo Berti nostro
Camerlingo che li pagò a Pier Giovanni scarpellino per rompere el archo
del nicchio.
1539, 2 Aprile.
Lire cinquantasei, se li fan buoni a Ugo Berti camerlingo che li pagò â
Messer Giovannantonio Sodoma, dipentore, per resto de la dipegnitura de
la chapelle di Piazza.
_Arch. dell’ Opera del Duomo, libro giallo detto dell’ assunta a carte,
369._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Quoted by Lanzi, _History of Painting_, vol. i. p. 295.
[2] Rogito di Guidetto Pelliparis, _Notul_ 4, fol. 334.
[3] Baldinucci, _Notizie dei professori di disegno_, ii. p. 117.
[4] Milanesi, _Documenti per la Storia dell’ arte Senese_, iii. p. 182.
[5] Don Luigi Bruzza, _Notizie intorno alia patria di Sodoma. Misc.
Storia Italiano._ Tomo i.
[6] Ugurgieri, _Le Pompe Sanesi_, ii. p. 353.
[7] Lanzi, _Descrizione del Duomo di Siena_, MS.
[8] _Rogiti di Guidetto di Pelliparis._ Notul 18, fol. 592, Doc. C.
[9] An inscription on the frame of one of his early panels is dated
1501.
[10] Vasari. Ed. Sansoni. Florence, 1879. p. 101.
[11] Bottari. _Lettere pittoriche_, vol. v. n. 42.
[12] Della Valle. _Lettere Senesi_, iii. p. 330.
[13] Arch. del Monastero. Libro Lungo, o fol. 95, a tergo.
[14] xii. Heft. 1, p. 72.
[15] Morelli. _Borghese and Doria Pamphili Galleries_, p. 152.
[16] Morelli. _Borghese and Doria Pamphili Galleries_, p. 152.
[17] “13 Ottobre 1508 il Magnifico Sigismondo Chigi fa sicurta per
Giovanni Antonio dei Bazzi di Vercelli, a cui è commesso da fare alcune
pitture nelle camere superiori del Pontefice nel Palazzo Vaticano.”
Arch. Della Soc. Romana di Storia Patria, a. 1879, p. 486.
[18] Archivio del registro da Siena. Libro delle gabelle dei contratti,
1510, a. c. 103.
[19] Arch. dei Contratti. Filza dei rogiti di ser Nicaolo Posi dal 1508
al 1512.
[20] Arch. dei Contratti. Rogiti di ser Mariano Benucci. Filza 7, No.
62.
[21] _Arte Italiana del Rinascimento._ p. 135.
[22] Luigi Pecori. _Storia della terra di San Gemignano_, p. 563.
[23] _Lib. di Prov. di San Gemignano._ Lettera G. No. 64.
[24] Frizzoni. “_Intorno alla dimora del Sodoma a Roma giornale di
erudizione artistica._” Perugia, 1872. Vol. i. p. 208.
[25] _Aretino’s Letters._ Paris, 1609. Book iii. p. 163.
[26] Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1870. p. 311.
[27] _Lettere Senesi_, iii. p. 267.
[28] _Italian Painters._ _Borghese and Doria Pamphili Galleries_, p.
155.
[29] Carta privata dei Medici. Arch. di stato di Firenze, filza 114. c.
191.
[30] Arch. dei deliberagioni della Balia, vol. 47, 7th November 1514.
[31] Arch. dei Contratti di Siena, Rogiti di Ser Alessandro di Ser
Francesco Martini, 1516.
[32] Vasari, vi. p. 634.
[33] Arch. dei Contratti di Siena. Filza S dei lodi di Ser Francesco
Figliucci.
[34] “22 Novembre, 1518. Actum Regii in Ecclesia S. Jacobi præsenti
ibidem Magistri Joanne Antonio de’ Bazzi de Parma pictore ad præsens
habitatore Regii,” etc.
[35] Rio, _Léonard da Vinci et son école_, p. 150. Mündler, _Beiträge
zu Jacob Burckhardt’s Cicerone_, p. 32. Amoretti, _Trattato della
pittura di L. da Vinci_, p. 101.
[36] Archivio del Patrimonio Ecclesiastico d’Entrata e Uscita della
detta Compagnia. Reg. C. 1. a. c. 38, A.
[37] E. Schurè. _Le drame musicale_, vol. i. p. 180.
[38] Angelo Mosso. _La Fatica_, Chap. viii. p. 228.
[39] Arch. dell Opera del Duomo. Libro di tre angeli. a. c. 465.
[40] Arch. delle Riformagioni di Siena. Scritture Concistoriali, filza,
41.
[41] Ricordi del Convento di Santo Spirito conservati nell’ Archivio
del Patrimonio Ecclesiastico nell’ opera del Duomo.
[42] Arch. dei Contratti. Rogiti di ser Galgano Faleri.
[43] Reproduced in the collection of heliotypes from the Morelli
Gallery edited by Dr. Frizzoni. (Milan, Hoepli, 1886.)
[44] First quoted by Ugurgieri, and then by Della Valle. _Lettere
Senesi_, ii. p. 244.
[45] Arch. dei Contratti. Fra i rogiti di Ser Sigisimondo Trecerchi.
[46] Arch. delle scritture, Concistoriali. Filza, 55, 1538.
[47] Della Valle, iii. 267.
1. Una Madonna del Sodoma con ornamento dorato, alta braccia due e
mezzo. sc. 150.
2. Quadro del Sodoma per lungo, che rappresenta Numitore, che condanna
alla morte da Madre di Romolo e Remo con i Bambini, etc. sc. 100.
3. Due quadri del Sodoma compagni alti un braccio e mezzo, lunghi due
braccia e mezzo, rappresentati in uno la caduta di Fetonte dal Carro,
nell’ altro Dafne segnita da Apollo, convertita in alloro.
4. Una resurrezione del Sodoma.
[48] Par. xvii. 56.
[49] It was painted in 1542, and he was paid 526 lire and 10 soldi.
[50] Arch. delle Riformazioni di Siena. Filza 35, delle lettere.
[51] Vasari, _Le Opere_, iii. 685.
[52] _Italienische Forschungen_, ii. 386.
INDEX
_Adoration of the Magi_ (S. Agostino, Siena), 50, 80, 91, 116, _ill._
50
_Alexander, Family of Darius before_ (Farnesina), 35, 114, _ill._ 34
_Alexander, Marriage of_ (Farnesina), 33, 114, _ill._ 32;
_sketches for_, 34, _ill._ 32
Arduini, The, their lawsuit against Sodoma, 80, 91
Aretino, Pietro, his friendship with Sodoma, 33
_Ascension_ (Trequanda), 81, 131
_Assumption of the Virgin, The_ (San Bernardino), 49, 117, _ill._ 50
Balducci, apprenticed to Sodoma, 47
Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio. _See_ Sodoma
Beccafumi, 3, 71;
associated with Sodoma, 48
Bernazzano, 14
Biers, Panels for, by Sodoma, 62
Biringucci, Vannoccio, 80
_Birth of the Virgin_ (Carmine), 82, 118
Bramantino, 27
Brazzi, Lorenzo, pupil of Sodoma, 47
Bruzza, Don Luigi, on Sodoma’s early life, 3-6
Camera della Segnatura, Sodoma’s decorations in, 27, 28, 113, _ill._
26
Carracci, Annibale, 3, 81
Cesare da Sesto, 14
_Charity_ (Berlin), 46, 62, 107
Chigi, Agostino, 3, 26, 27, 29, 32
Chigi, Prince Mario, 36
_Christ bearing the Cross_ (Monte Oliveto), 19, 130
_Christ bound to the Column_ (Siena Gallery), 2, 21, 43, 116, _ill._
44;
(Monte Oliveto), 19
_Christ, Head of_ (Nat. Gallery), 92, 104
_Christ in Hades_ (Siena Gallery), 21, 61, 115, _ill._ 60
_Circumcision, The_, by Signorelli, 86, 93;
the Child repainted by Sodoma, 86, 93
_Coronation of the Virgin, The_ (Monte Oliveto), 19, 129;
(San Bernardino, Siena), 117, _ill._ 50
_Darius, the Family of_, 35, 114, _ill._ 34
Della Quercia, Jacopo, 10
Del Piombo, Sebastiano, 23, 32
_Descent from the Cross, The_ (Siena Gallery), 12, 115, _ill._ 12
_Descent into Hades_ (Siena Gallery), 21, 61, 115, _ill._ 60
Farnesina, Building of the, 32;
frescoes in, 32, 33
_Female Portrait_ (Frankfort), 23, 107
Ferrara, Alfonso, Duke of, 52, 54
_Flagellation of Our Lord, The_, 43
_Gethsemane_ (Siena Gallery), 61, 115
Gianpietrino, 14, 46
Giovanone, 7
Gonzaga, Marquis Francesco, 45, 53
_Holy Family_ (Vercelli), 13, 131
_Holy Family with S. John_, etc. (Capt. Holford), 14, 105;
(Col. Cornwall Legh), 14, 105;
(Villa Borghese), 80, 113, _ill._ 82
_Holy Family_ (Genoa), 94, 111;
(Hospital, Siena), 95, 123
_Judgment of Pilate, The_, 43
_Last Supper, The_ (Monte Oliveto, Florence), 41, 110, _ill._ 40
_Leda_ (Villa Borghese), 21, 37, 113;
_drawings for_, 37, 62
Leo X., 3, 40
Leonardo da Vinci, Influence of on Sodoma, 7, 35;
picture of _Leda_ attributed to, 37;
_drawings of Leda_, 37, 38;
at Piombino, 40
Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, 70
Lorenzo di Credi, 14
_Lucretia, Paintings of_, by Sodoma, 45, 46
_Madonna and Child_ (Brera), 28, 29, 111, _ill._ 28;
(San Gemignano), 32;
(Turin), 38, 130;
(Munich), 39, 107;
(Ginoulhiac collection, Milan), 57, 112;
(Vaprio), 55, 131;
(Villa Borghese), 81, 113, _ill._ 82;
(Nat. Gallery), 92, 104;
(Bergamo), 94, 108;
(Layard collection), 94, 131;
(Mrs. Richter), 10, 96, 106;
(Asina-Lunga), 81, 108
_Madonna and Child with Saints_ (Turin), 31, 130, _ill._ 30;
(Pisa), 88, 113, _ill._ 88
_Madonna in Glory with Saints_ (Uffizi), 60, 109, _ill._ 60
_Madonna and S. Leonard_ (Palazzo Pubblico), 80, 81, 121, _ill._ 80
_Madonna and Child with S. John_ (Palazzo Pubblico), 81, 121, _ill._
82
_Madonna with S. Peter and S. Michael_ (Monte Oliveto), 20
Magagni, Girolamo, pupil of Sodoma, 47, 67, 68
_Male Head_ (Bergamo), 94, 108
Melozzo da Forlì, 28
Melzi, Francesco, 55
Michelangelo, 9, 27, 32, 35
_Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes_ (S. Anna in Creta, Siena), 16, 124
Monte Oliveto (Siena), Frescoes by Sodoma at, 18-23
Morelli, Analysis of Sodoma’s characteristics by, 23-25
_Nativity, The_ (Siena Gallery), 13, 115, _ill._ 14;
(Porta San Viene, Siena), 76, 123
Pacchia, Frescoes in San Bernardino by, 48, 50
Pacchiarotto, fresco of _San Bernardino_ by, _ill._ 56
_Penitent Magdalen_ (Dr. Frizzoni, Milan), 56, 111
_Persecution of Rhea Silvia, The_ (Chigi Palace, Rome), 36, 114
Peruzzi, Baldassare, 32, 46, 65, 85
Petrucci, The, of Siena, 53, 57
_Phaeton, The Fall of_ (lost picture), 85, 96;
_drawings for_, 85, 86
Piccolomini, Portraits of the, 51
_Pietà_ (Pisa Cathedral), 13, 87, 112;
(S. Anna in Creta, Siena), 17, 124;
(Monte Oliveto), 20;
(Villa Borghese), 63, 113;
(Casa Bambagini), 64, 123;
_drawings for_, 63, _ill._ 62;
(Costa collection), 94, 110;
(San Tommaso, Milan), 94, 112
Pinturicchio, 9, 26
Piombino, Prince of, 3, 40, 83, 96
_Presentation in the Temple, The_ (San Bernardino), 48, 117, _ill._ 48
_Procession to Calvary, The_ (Siena, Villa Griccioli), 61, 124
Raphael, Portrait of Sodoma in the _School of Athens_ by, 3, 28;
frescoes in the Farnesina, 32;
influence of on Sodoma, 35, 36, 72;
portrait drawing of Timoteo Viti wrongly attributed to, 93
_Resurrection_ (Palazzo Pubblico), 78, 121, _ill._ 76;
(Naples), 79, 112;
_study for_, 94
Riccio, son-in-law of Sodoma, 30, 47, 71, 87
_Roxana, Alexander and_, 33, 114, _ill._ 32;
_study for_, _ill._ 32
_Sacrifice of Isaac_ (Pisa), 87, 112, _ill._ 86
S. Anna in Creta, Siena, frescoes by Sodoma at, 16, 124
_S. Anne Enthroned_ (S. Anna in Creta, Siena), 17, 125
_S. Ansano_ (Palazzo Pubblico), 71, 120, _ill._ 72
_S. Benedict, Scenes in the Life of_ (Monte Oliveto), 18-22,
125-129, _ill._ 16, 18, 20
San Bernardino, Frescoes in the Oratory of, 48, 117
_San Bernardino_, by Pacchiarotto, _ill._ 56
_San Bernardo instituting his Order_ (Monte Oliveto), 20, 130
_S. Catherine, Scenes in the Life of_ (San Domenico), 64, 66,
_ill._ 64, 66, 68
_S. Catherine, The Vision of_, 2, 65, 119, _ill._ 64
_S. Christopher_ (Spada Gallery, Rome), 36, 114;
_study for_, 94
San Domenico, Siena, Sodoma’s work in, 64-67, 119
_S. George and the Dragon_ (Sir F. Cook), 46, 51, 54, 105
_S. Ives_ (San Gemignano), 31, 111
_S. Louis of Toulouse_ (San Bernardino, Siena), 118, _ill._ 54
_S. Sebastian_ (Uffizi), 2, 21, 58, 109, _ill._ _Front._, 58;
(Spanish Chapel, Siena), 74, 122
_S. Victor_ (Palazzo Pubblico), 70, 71, 120, _ill._ 70
_Salutation, The_ (San Bernardino), 49, 117, _ill._ 48
_School of Athens, The_, by Raphael, 3, 28
Scorel, Jan, 23
Signorelli, Frescoes at Monte Oliveto, by, 18;
his _Circumcision_, 86, 93
Sodoma, disliked by Vasari, 2, 3;
highly esteemed by contemporaries, 3;
his birth, 3;
apprenticed to Spanzotti, 6;
influence of Leonardo on, 7;
work at Siena, 8;
his love of animals, 10, 22;
early works, 10-14;
portraits, 15;
frescoes at S. Anna in Creta, 16;
frescoes at Monte Oliveto, 18-22;
female portrait at Frankfort, 23;
Morelli’s analysis of the characteristics of, 23-25;
taken to Rome by Chigi, 27;
decorations in the Camera della Segnatura, 27, 28;
return to Siena and marriage, 29;
second visit to Rome, 32;
friendship with Aretino, 33;
frescoes in the Farnesina, 33-36;
influence of Leonardo and Raphael on, 35, 36;
visit to Piombino, 40,
and Florence, 40;
fresco of the _Last Supper_, at Monte Oliveto (Florence), 41;
origin of his name, 42, 43;
frescoes at San Francesco, 43;
_Christ bound to the Column_, 43, 45;
his treatment of the human figure, 44, 45;
_Lucretia_, 45;
made Cavalliere di Cristo by Leo X., 45;
_Charity_, 46;
his pupils, 47;
the San Bernardino frescoes, 48;
the _Adoration of the Magi_, 50;
_S. George and the Dragon_, 51;
disappearance from Siena, 53;
doubtful works at Milan, 55;
return to Siena, 57;
_S. Sebastian_, 58-60;
frescoes in San Domenico, 64-67;
action against Magagni, 67-68;
decorations in the Palazzo Pubblico, 70 _et seq._;
frescoes in the Spanish chapel, 72, 73;
made a Count by the Emperor, 75;
other frescoes in Siena, 75;
later works, 80-88;
comic list of his possessions, 82;
last commission from the Signoria of Siena, 83;
friendship of the Prince of Piombino for, 84;
at Volterra, 85,
and Pisa, 87;
his death, 88;
portraits of himself, 90-92;
works in English collections, 92, 93;
minor works, 94;
lost pictures, 95, 96;
general character, 97
_Sodoma, Portraits of_, by himself, 90, _ill._ 90
Spanzotti, Sodoma apprenticed to, 6
Tamagni, Vincenzo, 30
_Tolomei, San Bernardo_, 64, 72, 77, 121
Tizioni, The, 6
Vasari, his dislike of Sodoma, 2, 3;
account of Sodoma’s eccentricities, 10;
his injustice to Sodoma, 43
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Transcriber’s notes.
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