Sebastiano del Piombo - Felix Pictor

More about the book

Sebastiano Luciani, known as Sebastiano del Piombo, was born around 1485 in Venice and died in 1547 in Rome. After training as a painter under Giovanni Bellini and Giorgione, he experienced the early stages of a new spatial understanding in Venice. Initially recognized as a musician, he later gained acclaim as a painter, particularly noted in a poem celebrating his frescoes in Rome, where he moved in 1511. Following Raphael's death, he emerged as the leading portraitist in Rome. Influenced by Michelangelo and the spirituali circle, he developed a new visual aesthetic during the reform period, linking his artistic vision to the musical form of 'elocutio.' This study reveals how Sebastiano del Piombo's artistic process led to an aesthetic concept of permanence and transformation. The author highlights parallels with the memorial compositions of Johannes Ockeghem. Grounded in new ideas of space and time, Sebastiano's work culminates in the tonal memorial image, a genre that foreshadows the tonal paintings of Caravaggio and his successors.