Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Piccolomini Altar
Image View:
Overall view in church, left of the entrance to the Piccolomini Library
Creator:
Andrea Bregno (Italian sculptor, 1418-1503); Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian sculptor, 1475-1564)
Location:
repository: Siena Cathedral (Siena, Tuscany, Italy)
Location Note:
Piazza del Duomo
GPS:
43.3177 11.329
Date:
1481-1504 (inclusive)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Fifteenth century; Renaissance
Work Type 1:
altar (religious building fixture)
Work Type 2:
sculpture (visual work)
Work Type 3:
monument
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
marble
Technique:
carving (processes); construction (assembling)
Subjects:
death or burial; funerary art; New Testament; rulers and leaders; saints; Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint
Description:
Between 1481 and 1485, Bregno, together with his assistants (including Pietro Torrigiani), composed the Piccolomini Altar (signed and dated 1485) in Siena Cathedral, which was later embellished with sculptures (1501-1504) by Michelangelo. The altar also houses the tomb of Cardinal Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomi ni, who was to succeed Pope Alexander VI as Pius III in 1503 only to die within the year, leaving the Holy See to Julius II. Michelangelo executed four out of fifteen small statues he had contracted to provide for the Piccolomini Altar; Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Gregory (with the help of an assistant) and Saint Pius. On top of the altar is the Madonna and Child, a sculpture (probably) by Jacopo della Quercia. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordart online.com/)
Collection:
Adjunct Module B: Italian Art
Identifier:
6A1-BA-SC-PA-A01
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Piccolomini Altar