Scenes from the Life of Alexander the Great

1545 · Sala Paolina, Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome

historical

The seemingly plastic organization of the walls features bronze chiaroscuri framed in stone; round-headed niches flanked by columns, with "living" figures of the Virtues; overdoor paintings with female personifications; and pairs of putti holding bronze tondi. The plastic organization of the walls enters into competition with the fully plastic, partially gilded stucco of the ceiling and its colourful paintings. The six ceiling paintings and the large wall areas were reserved for scenes from the life of Alexander the Great, while the act of Apostle Paul - from his conversion to martyrdom - were depicted in the six tondi above the doors of the room.

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Scenes from the Life of Alexander the Great

About the Artist

Marco Pino

1525 – 1587

Italian painter, called Marco da Siena. He was an apprentice of Domenico Beccafumi in Siena (1537-42), and by 1543 was in Rome. His Mannerist formula was already evident in the Visitation (1545; Rome, Santo Spirito in Sassia). Through his collaborations with Perino del Vaga on frescoes in the Castel Sant'Angelo (1546) and Daniele da Volterra on frescoes in Trinità de' Monti (1548-53), he combined the grace of Perino with the twisting poses of Michelangelo. He may have travelled to Spain and by 1557 had settled in Naples, where he executed frescoes (destroyed) at Montecassino and the Baptism of Christ (1564; Naples, San Domenico Maggiore). In Rome in 1568 he painted a Resurrection in the oratory of the Gonfalone and a Pietà for Santa Maria in Aracoeli. After returning to Naples, he executed such works there as the Adoration of the Magi and the Assumption of the Virgin (1571; both SS Severino e Sossio) and the Archangel Michael (1573; Sant'Angelo a Nilo), which reflected Counter-Reformation tendencies. Among his paintings exported from Naples is the Conversion of Saul (1574; Palermo, Galleria Regionale della Sicilia). The devotional aspect is accentuated in his Neapolitan works of 1577-78: a Crucifixion (Naples, SS Severino e Sossio) and a Transfiguration (Naples, Gesù Vecchio).

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