Artists
Il Sodoma
- Country:
- Italy
- Birth year:
- 1477
- Death year:
- 1549
II Sodoma (c. 1477 Vercelli-1549 Siena), whose given name was Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, came from a small village in the Piedmont region of Italy. From 1490 to 1497 he trained in the atelier of the local painter Giovanni Martino Spanzotti. In 1500 the young artist went to Siena through the influence of the Spannocchi, a banking family. He was called to Rome in 1508 to help paint the backgrounds of Raphael's Stanza della Segnaturea in the Vatican. However, he did not progress beyond these mere beginnings at the Vatican. In 1510, his wedding in Siena is documented. Sodoma was again in Rome in 1512, this time painting the famous Alexander fresco for Agostino Chigi (1465-1520) in the Villa Farnesina. In his later creative years he was based in Siena, but also worked in Bolterra (1539/40), Pisa (1540-1543), Lucca (1545) and Piombino. His works include The Wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxana, fresco, 1512-1515, Villa Farnesina, Rome; Christ in Purgatory, fresco, c. 1530-1534, Oratorio di s. Croce, Siena; and The Sacrifice of Abraham, 1542, Duomo, Siena.