Pontormo
Pontormo was a Florentine Mannerist painter known for charged religious subjects, unconventional spaces, and intense, sometimes startling color.
Painter
Domenico Beccafumi
Domenico Beccafumi was a Sienese Mannerist painter known for unusual color, twisting figures, atmospheric light, and imaginative Roman-history scenes.
Domenico Beccafumi quick facts
Beccafumi's narrative paintings drew on Roman history and Sienese civic subjects, including fresco cycles documented by the National Gallery.
| Full name | Domenico di Giacomo di Pace |
|---|---|
| Born | About 1484–1486 · near Siena, Republic of Siena (now Italy) |
| Died | 1551 · Siena, Republic of Siena (now Italy) |
| Nationality | Italian (Sienese) |
| Movements | Mannerism (Sienese tradition) |
| Paint types | Oil Paint · Tempera paint · Emulsion paint |
| Other media | — |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | Wood · Plaster · Paper (tempera and emulsion studies) |
| Painting methods | Develops fresco compositions through preparatory figure studies, exploring light and shade with fluid oil sketches as well as paintings on prepared wood panels |
| Common subjects | Roman heroines, Biblical episodes, mythological antiquity, devotional scenes, city architecture, and narrative allegory |
| Notable works | The Story of Papirius · Marcia · Tanaquil · The Holy Family with Angels |
Sources: National Gallery: Beccafumi biography and Sienese frescoes, National Gallery: The Story of Papirius, oil on wood, National Gallery: Marcia, oil on wood, National Gallery: Tanaquil, originally wood, transferred to canvas, National Gallery of Art: The Holy Family with Angels, oil on panel, Metropolitan Museum: Saint Mark, tempera and emulsion on paper, and Metropolitan Museum: Saint Matthew, tempera and emulsion on paper.
Paint types used by Domenico Beccafumi
Beccafumi used oil on panels and tempera or emulsion in works on paper; museum records identify these materials but do not specify every binder.
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Oil paint
Beccafumi painted The Story of Papirius and Marcia in oil on wood, arranging multiple moments of Roman history in an imagined city. The National Gallery records Tanaquil as originally painted on wood before its later transfer to canvas. The transfer does not change the original support.
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Tempera paint
The Met records tempera in Beccafumi’s Saint Mark (1538), a drawing on paper, and Saint Michael (c. 1528), a small painted panel. These records document tempera in both a drawn study and a finished panel, alongside his more common oil paintings. The museum does not specify an egg binder.
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Emulsion paint
The Met’s medium record for Saint Mark (1538) identifies tempera and emulsion on paper. The emulsion belongs to this specific drawing, not automatically to Beccafumi’s oil panels. This collection evidence supports the paint type as part of one documented work and preserves its distinction from tempera.
Sources: National Gallery: The Story of Papirius, oil on wood; National Gallery: Marcia, oil on wood; National Gallery: Tanaquil, transferred from wood to canvas; The Met: Saint Mark, tempera and emulsion on paper; The Met: Saint Matthew, tempera and emulsion on paper
Painting surfaces used by Domenico Beccafumi
The documented supports include wood and plaster, and the rows below connect each surface to works by Domenico Beccafumi through collection records.
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Wood
Beccafumi’s paintings include works on wood panel, documented in National Gallery records for The Story of Papirius, Marcia, and Tanaquil. The rigid support carries oil paintings, while one panel was later transferred to canvas. These object histories make the original wood support explicit.
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Plaster
Beccafumi painted frescoes on plaster in Sienese churches and civic buildings. The architectural support differs from his portable wood panels, which carry oil and tempera paintings. National Gallery and NGA records document both his panel practice and fresco commissions, establishing plaster as a distinct surface in his work.
Sources: National Gallery: Beccafumi biography and Sienese frescoes, National Gallery: The Story of Papirius, oil on wood, National Gallery: Marcia, oil on wood, National Gallery: Tanaquil, originally wood, transferred to canvas, National Gallery of Art: The Holy Family with Angels, oil on panel.
Painters similar to Domenico Beccafumi
Pontormo's dramatic chromatic experiments and Salviati's Florentine classical allegories offer related, but distinct, approaches to Mannerist figures.
Francesco Salviati
Francesco Salviati was a Florentine Mannerist painter who created polished allegories, expressive court portraits, and ambitious architectural frescoes.