By Anne Leader
Bernardino Pinturicchio died on 11 December 1513 in Siena. He was 61. After training in Perugia, Pinturicchio got his start working alongside Pietro Perugino in the Sistine Chapel. This collaboration led to independent commissions in Rome, including chapels in Santa Maria d’Aracoeli and Santa Maria del Popolo and frescoed ceilings in several cardinals’ palaces. In 1492, Pinturicchio received a commission to decorate apartments in the Vatican for the newly elected Pope Alexander VI. In 1502, he began what has become his most famous project, the decoration of the Piccolomini chapel in Siena cathedral commemorating the life of Pope Pius II. Pinturicchio spent the remainder of his life in Siena. Despite his successful career, Pinturicchio’s reputation suffered from a harsh assessment by Giorgio Vasari in his biography.
Piccolomini Library, 1502-08, fresco, Duomo, Siena: partial view; scene 1: Enea Piccolomini Leaves for the Council of Basel; scene 7: The Coronation of Enea Silvio Piccolomini as Pope Pius II
Adoration of the Christ Child, c. 1490, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Death of St Bernardino, 1487-89, fresco, Cappella Bufalini, Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Rome
The Resurrection (detail), 1492-4, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican