Benvenuto was born and died in
Siena. Learning the basics of art under his father's watchful supervision and trained in the
traditional Sienese style of painting (he was a contemporary of
Giacomo Pacchiarotti,
Bernardino Fungai and
Pinturicchio), he worked on several frescoes and altarpieces undertaken by his father's studio. His first independent work,
The Assumption of Mary of 1498 for the city of
Montalcino (whose museum still holds it), Girolamo shows several differences to his father's style, with more elongated figures with more pronounced expressions. His most notable work, signed and dated to 1508, is his
Madonna of the Snow, now in the
Pinacoteca in Siena. It echoes two female portraits painted by him at about the same time (one in the
National Gallery of Art, Washington). Surviving documents and works show he mainly produced religious works, but also created paintings on secular themes for domestic settings and
cassoni - the latter include his
Judgement of Paris tondo (intended for a bedroom and now in the
Louvre). A second work, of similar subject matter to the above work, is located in the
National Gallery of Victoria,
Australia. This work incorporates two medieval themes, and has been heralded as one of his finest works on display outside of Europe. The Gallery paid an undisclosed amount for this painting which was said to be in the tens of millions of dollars. ==Sources==