Home	Pinturicchio: The Life of Bernardino Pinturicchio, Painter from Perugia[c. 1454-1513]
	PINTURICCHIO (c. 1454-1513), whose real name was Bernardino di Betti di Biagio, was born in Perugia. His frescoes with their wealth of figures frequently seem to give a glimpse into open country or into the depths of a landscape patterned with architectural elements (the Borgia apartments in the Vatican; the frescoes in the Cathedral Library, Siena). Pinturicchio ( 1454-1513), in contrast to the strict horizontal and vertical compositions of Perugino and Ghirlandaio, represents a parallel to the later more colorful and highly decorative manner of Filippino Lippi and Piero di Cosimo. Bernardino di Betto di Biagio, called II Pinturicchio (from his diminutive size) or II Sordicchio (for his deafness), was born in 1454 ( Vasari), may possibly have worked with Perugino in the shop of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, and the first artistic activity definitely associated with him is that as assistant to Perugino in the Sistine Chapel ( 1480-82). In 1481 he is entered in the painters' guild in Perugia; he bought property in 1482 and 1484 in Perugia, and in 1484 was at work on the decoration of the Bufalini Chapel in Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Rome. In 1485/6 he was paid for smaller works in the convent of Monteluce in Perugia. From 1486, when he was called by Innocent VIII to paint a large Madonna for a tabernacle and decorate part of the Belvedere in the Vatican with landscapes and architectural view "in the manner of the Flemings," as Vasari says (both works now lost except for lunette fragments in the Belvedere with the date 1487), until his death ( December 11, 1513 the greater part of his activity was in the service of the Popes at Rome. This was interrupted at various times by extensive commissions, mostly executed with the help of assistants, in Orvieto, Spello, and Siena, as well as frequent stays in his home town of Perugia. His later years seem to have been made miserable by his own physical infirmities and the faithlessness of his wife, Grania, which is reflected in his testament and other documents. Pinturicchio's early development may be followed in the San Bernardino panels of 1473, the frescos of the Sistine Chapel ( 1480-82), and those in Santa Maria in Aracoeli ( 1484). How much he had to do with the actual painting of the San Bernardino panels is not known, but their style is of significance as being characteristic of the group about Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, from which Perugino as well as the younger Pinturicchio develop. His participation in the Sistine Chapel decoration as assistant to Perugino is assured by Vasari, who says he received one third of the payment. The style, however, is not easily distinguished from that of Perugino, but it is assumed that the greater part of the landscapes and the smaller figures of the backgrounds in the Story of Moses, with the Exodus and Circumcision, and the Baptism of Christ, are painted by Pinturicchio (cf. the parallel assistance given to Cosimo Rosselli by Piero di Cosimo), as are the many fine portrait figures at the sides. The frescos in the Bufalini Chapel of Santa Maria in Aracoeli represent the four Evangelists in the vaults (damaged) and scenes from the life of San Bernardino: his glorification on the altar wall (Christ in Glory above, with Saints Bernardino, Louis of Toulouse, and Anthony of Padua below), and others depicting the Apparition of the Crucifix to him, San Bernardino in the Wilderness, the Funeral of San Bernardino. The Glorification is especially interesting because of its Umbrian emphasis on the landscape and the subordination of figures to the space (cf. the similar theme of Christ in Glory with Saints by Perugino, whereby the more subdued coloration in dull purple and green, the greater emphasis on the decorative movement of figures and drapery, and the general filling up of empty spaces with manneristic designs, become evident). Pinturicchio's major works are the frescos, particularly on the lunettes, of the Borgia apartments in the Vatican, which were painted with the aid of assistants between 1492 and 1495 for Pope Alexander VI, and which are divided according to subject matter: the Hall of Mysteries (Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, Nativity, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Ghost, Assumption of the Virgin, and the Resurrection with the votive portrait of Alexander VI); the Hall of Saints (the Visitation, Saints Anthony and Paul the Hermit in the Wilderness, the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, St. Susanna and the Elders, the Flight and Martyrdom of St. Barbara, and the Disputation of St. Catherine); and the Hall of the Seven Liberal Arts (with the enthroned figures of Grammar, Geometry, Dialectic, Arithmetic, Rhetoric, Astronomy, and Music). The frescos of stylistic importance in this series that are assumed to have been executed more or less by Pinturicchio's own hand are the Disputation of St. Catherine, the Visitation, the Martyrdom of St. BarbaraM, the portraits of Alexander VI in the Resurrection and that of the donor (possibly the papal treasurer, Francesco Borgia) in the Assumption. In composition the elaborate all-over decoration, the subordination of figures to the landscape or architectural space, the effective balancing of figure groups, and the mannered stylization of movement are characteristic features (cf. Filippino Lippi). Iconographically the whole series is interesting as representative of the papal court of this pre-Julian era (i.e., Sixtus IV to Alexander VI), whose narrative realism and symbolism might be compared on the one hand with the Gothic allegorical decorations of the Spanish Chapel in Santa Maria Novella, Florence, and on the other hand to the High Renaissance decorations of Raphael (the Stanzas) or Michelangelo (Sistine ceiling). The frescos in the Baglioni Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore in Spello were painted in 1501 for the papal protonotary, Troilo Baglioni, and represent four enthroned sibyls on the vaults, the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Shepherds, and Christ among the Doctors, on the walls. The self-portrait of the artist with the date 1501 and signature, Bernardus Pictoricius Perusin(us), is to be found on the right of the Annunciation. The best scene is probably that of Christ among the Doctors with the decorative monumental use of the temple in the background (cf. Perugino's Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter in the Sistine Chapel). The next year, 1502, Pinturicchio was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini (later Pope Pius III) to decorate the cathedral library of Siena with frescos depicting scenes from the life of his great ancestor, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini ( Pope Pius II). ? These were begun in 1503 and completed in 1508. During the same period the frescos over the entrance to the library (the Coronation of Pius III, done on the occasion of that event, 1503) and the scenes from the life of John the Baptist in the Cappella di San Giovanni were painted. Significant to the library decorations, aside from their monumental space proportions already noted in the earlier works, is their brilliant coloration and the narrative character of the content, which is reminiscent of Gozzoli, but which reveals a greater interest in the figure composition as such than in the narrative. The best known scenes are the Departure of Aeneas Piccolomini for the Council of Basel, and the Meeting of Frederick III and Eleanora of Portugal with its figure composition reminiscent of the traditional Sposalizio as well as the Visitation. A number of stylistically unimportant altarpieces were executed during his late period, such as that contracted for on March 24, 1507, by the Franciscans of Sant' Andrea in Spello (Virgin and Saints) and executed for the most part by a pupil, Eusebio da San Giorgio.