Sodoma – Italian artist of the Sienese school of Renaissance painting
His real name was Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. He was born in Vercelli near Savoy. From 1498 he studied with Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, and in 1501 he moved to Siena, where he painted several frescoes and canvases. In 1505, Sodoma created a large cycle of frescoes based on the life of St. Benedict for the monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, as well as “The Descent from the Cross” (now in the Museum of Siena). The background in this painting is believed to have been inspired by the works of the Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, although many Italian artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, also depicted landscapes in the backgrounds of their paintings.
During the Renaissance, paintings like this were often done by a workshop – a group of artists working under the direction of one master. The master created the overall composition and painted the key elements of the painting, while his assistants painted the background and secondary figures. Despite this, the entire painting was attributed to the master himself. Born in Lombardy, Sodoma worked in Siena and Rome, where he completed many commissions.
Sodoma became the most famous of the Sienese masters of the first decades of the 16th century. Sodoma worked as a fresco artist (paintings of the Chapel of St. Catherine in the church of San Domenico, begun in 1526, and in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena) and as an author of altarpieces.
In 1515, Sodoma returned to Siena, where in 1518 he painted four frescoes from the history of Mary for the oratory of San Bernardino. From 1518 to 1525, Sodoma was apparently in Upper Italy, where he became acquainted with the work of artists of the Lombard school. From 1525 to 1537, Sodoma lived in Siena. In 1525, the artist began work on his main work, imbued with depth and truthfulness of perception – frescoes based on the life of St. Catherine in the Chapel of the Saints of the Church of San Domenico, and also painted several portraits of saints and “Resurrection” for the Siena town hall. Sodoma led a cheerful lifestyle, his eccentric nature did not allow the artist to carefully work on sketches from nature and his paintings.
