Trinity

Beccafumi's Trinity, painted in 1513 in oil on panel, was made as an altarpiece for the Cappella del Manto in the Santa Maria della Scala hospital complex in Siena, where it stayed until 1818. The choice of Saints Cosmas and Damian as companions, flanking John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, seems tied to the nature of that chapel. It is an early work and a prestigious commission, linked to the painter's return to Siena after time in Rome. An inscription on the frame names Battista d'Antonio da Ceva as the patron, and documents later rediscovered by Samminiatelli place its delivery in February and March 1513. Vasari credited Perugino as the main influence, yet the painting looks more to Sienese and Florentine art of the day: the simplified volumes of Fra' Bartolomeo, the fluid forms of Sodoma and the restless expressiveness of Filippino Lippi. The cherubs in the clouds recall Raphael's Foligno Madonna, which Beccafumi may have glimpsed in Rome while it was still in progress. Its restless figures and sharp colour contrasts already anticipate Mannerism.

Painter

Domenico Beccafumi

Date

1513

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

152 × 228 cm

Museum

Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, Siena

Genre

religious art

Depicts

Jesus Christ, man

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