1511–1520 '', 1511–12,
Fitzwilliam Museum, perhaps Sebastiano's first Roman easel painting. It is possible that Raphael's famous
Galatea of 1514, which is in the next bay and now dominates the room, replaced a fresco by Sebastiano. A larger cycle on the lower walls was apparently intended, but abandoned, for reasons that are not clear. '',
Uffizi, c. 1512–13 Sebastiano had also been producing
easel paintings from soon after his arrival, showing the development of his new style. A
Death of Adonis in the
Uffizi dates to about 1512–13, and shows that he "had achieved a working dialectic of Roman and Venetian classical styles", in which he "enlarged the proportion of his figures into an almost bulking massiveness, ponderous and sensuously splendid: idealizations, but of sensuous existence". By about 1515, Sebastiano had befriended and allied himself with
Michelangelo, who recruited him "as a kind of deputy for him in painting", he having returned to his backlog of promised projects in sculpture. Michelangelo's intention was for Sebastiano to "contest Raphael's first place" in painting in Rome, using at least in part ideas and designs supplied by Michelangelo, whose rivalry with Raphael had become intense. The intention may have been for a closer relationship than actually resulted, as in 1516 Michelangelo returned to
Florence, only returning occasionally to Rome for several years after. The back of the panels have large sketches in
charcoal that seem to be by both artists. In 1516 he painted a similar subject, the
Lamentation of Jesus (now
Hermitage Museum) using his own composition, and showing his awareness of Raphael's handling of groups of figures. '' (1517–1519) These led a Florentine friend of Michelangelo, Pierfrancesco Borgherini, to commission Sebastiano to decorate a chapel in
San Pietro in Montorio in Rome; he no doubt hoped to get significant input from Michelangelo. There is a Michelangelo drawing of 1516 for the
Flagellation of Jesus in the
British Museum, and other sketches; the final design survives only in a copy by
Giulio Clovio after another Michelangelo drawing (
Royal Collection). In the event there were a series of interruptions and Sebastiano did not complete the chapel until early 1524. The
Flagellation is painted in oil on plaster. This was a method first practiced by
Domenico Veneziano, and afterwards by other artists; but according to Vasari only Sebastiano succeeded in preventing the colours eventually blackening. The last major work of the period was the
Raising of Lazarus, now in the
National Gallery, London, which was commissioned in 1516 by Cardinal Giulio de Medici, archbishop of
Narbonne in southern France, and the future
Pope Clement VII, in blatant competition, engineered by Michelangelo, with a painting of the same size by Raphael, the
Transfiguration. Both were supposed to hang in
Narbonne Cathedral. Michelangelo supplied at least drawings for the figure of Lazarus and the two men supporting him (British Museum), but probably did not do any work on the painting itself, if only because he was only briefly in Rome during the time it was painted. When the two paintings were hung together in the Vatican, just after Raphael's death in 1520, both were praised, but the Raphael generally preferred, as has remained the case ever since. In the early 1520s Sebastiano completed the Borgherini Chapel with a
Transfiguration in the semi-dome above his
Flagellation. The combination shows the influence of the
Apocalipsis Nova, a contemporary text that prophesied the coming of an "Angelic Pastor" who would bring a new age of peace. Michelangelo was among many reformist Catholics interested in the text. The
Flagellation represents "the current, corrupted state of Christianity and the Transfiguration the glorious future to come". File:Sebastiano del Piombo 003.jpg|Ferry Carondelet with his Secretaries, 1512 File:Sebastiano del Piombo - View of the Loggia di Galatea - WGA21116.jpg|Sebastiano's
Polyphemus next to Raphael's
Galatea in the
Villa Farnesina. Two of his lunettes above. File:Sebastiano del piombo, pietà.jpg|The
Viterbo Pietà, c. 1515 File:Bajada de Cristo al Limbo (Sebastiano del Piombo).jpg|
Descent into Limbo, 1516, left wing of a triptych. File:Piombo (Llanto por Cristo muerto).jpg|The
Hermitage Museum Lamentation of Jesus, 1516, centre part of the triptych. File:San Pietro in Montorio; Geisselung (Sebastiano del Piombo).jpg|The
Flagellation in
San Pietro in Montorio, to a drawing by Michelangelo, 1516 or later. File:Piombo, Sebastiano del - The Visitation - 1518-19.jpg|The
Louvre Visitation, 1518–19 File:Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Columbus.jpg|Portrait of a man, said to be
Christopher Columbus, 1519 File:Madona s rouškou, Sebastiano del Piombo (cropped).jpg|
Madonna with the Veil (original version,
Olomouc), c. 1525.
1520–1531 , by 1524
Transfiguration in
San Pietro in Montorio, by 1524. The death of Raphael in 1520, immediately before the exhibition of the two rival paintings intended for Narbonne, left Sebastiano clearly the leading painter operating in Rome. As his letters show, he immediately attempted to secure for himself the "Sala dei Pontefici", Raphael's next Vatican project, but was frustrated by Raphael's workshop, armed with the master's drawings, and his own inability to enlist Michelangelo's help, as the pope had told him to work exclusively on the long-promised
Tomb of Pope Julius II. In the following years Sebastiano mostly avoided very large commissions for churches, and concentrated on portraits, where he had a considerable reputation, and religious
easel paintings, such as his
Visitation for France (1518–19, now
Louvre), and his
Madonna of the Veil (c. 1525), To both of these types he brought his refined monumental classicism. His career in the decade was greatly impacted by outside events. In 1522 there was plague in Rome, and he may have left Rome for a long period; there is little evidence of his activity for over a year. In 1523 Giulio de Medici became
Pope Clement VII, and thereafter Sebastiano seems to have been a part of Vatican court life. He painted a number of portraits of the pope, and other paintings for him. In 1527 he seems to have remained with the pope all through the horrors of the
Sack of Rome and his nervous retreat to
Orvieto, though he seems to have spent time in Venice in 1528 and perhaps 1529, his first known return there since 1511. This catastrophe brought to an end the High Renaissance epoch in Rome, scattering Raphael's workshop and the emerging Roman Mannerists, and largely destroying the confidence of patrons. In 1531 the death of the previous holder allowed Sebastiano to press Pope Clement for the lucrative office of the "
piombatore", which he obtained after promising to pay a fixed sum of 300 scudi annually to the other main contender,
Giovanni da Udine, who was also a painter, from Raphael's workshop. To hold the position he had to take vows as a friar, despite having a wife and two children.
1532–1547 Sebastiano's artistic output reduced after taking the court role, though possibly not by as much as Vasari suggests. Large projects, even of a single painting, could take many years to complete, as with a
Pieta for Spain. This was the last piece where Michelangelo helped him with a drawing. . His friendship with Michelangelo came to an end in 1534, after a disagreement over the latter's
Last Judgment in the
Sistine Chapel. Sebastiano encouraged the pope to insist that this picture should be executed in oil on plaster, the technique he had developed and used. The enormous wall was prepared with the smooth plaster needed for this, with Michelangelo apparently acquiescent. There may even have been the idea floated that Sebastiano might do the painting to Michelangelo's designs. Michelangelo may also have tried painting in oils on the smooth surface. It is clear that several months after the idea of using oils first appeared, Michelangelo finally and furiously rejected it, and insisted that the whole wall be re-plastered in the rough
arriccio needed as a base for fresco. It was on this occasion that he famously said that
oil painting was "an art for women and for leisurely and idle people like Fra Sebastiano". Two late projects for churches were never finished by Sebastiano. A large altarpiece of the
Birth of the Virgin, still in
Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, was begun in the late 1530s but had to be finished after his death by
Francesco Salviati. Vasari records that he died after a short illness on 14 June 1547, at the age of 62. His will directed that he be buried very simply in Santa Maria del Popolo, with the savings from not having an elaborate burial given to the poor. After efforts by
Daniele da Volterra his remains were moved in 1561 to the predecessor of the Rome
Accademia di San Luca. File:Sebastiano del Piombo - Vittoria Colonna (?) - Google Art Project.jpg|Said to be
Vittoria Colonna, by 1525, already showing a very simplified treatment of form. File:Sebastiano del Piombo – Portrait of Pope Clement VII (ca. 1526).jpg|
Pope Clement VII, about 1526 File:Andrea Doria.jpg|
Andrea Doria, 1526 File:Sebastiano del Piombo 007.JPG|
A Lady as Saint Agatha, after 1530, as signed with "F." for "Frate". Probably 1540s. ==Technique==