pinz6n
104
PIOMBO
Sistine Chapel, in the decoration of which he assisted
Perugino in 1480, Ara Cccli, the Appartamento Borgia,
Spello, Siena, and Sta Maria del Popolo. IModern
critics agree in recognizing as his two frescoes in the
Sistine Chapel, the "Baptism of Jesus" and "Moses
jonrncj-ing to Egj'pt". The Bufalini commissioned
him to paint the life of St. Bernardine for the chapel
at the Ara Coeli ; but his chief work was the decoration
of the Borgia apart men t ent rust ed t o him by Alexander
VI. His compositions begin in the Hall of Mysteries,
so called because it containsthe "Annunciation", the
"Visitation", the "Crib", the "Resurrection", the
"Pentecost", the "Ascension"; that of the "Resur-
rection" contains a splendid portrait of Alexander
VI. In the Hall of Saints, the most beautiful of all,
he has outlined with much grace and brilUancy the
histories of various martyrs: St. Susanna, St. Bar-
bara, Disputation of St. Catherine, Visit of St.
Anthony to St. Paul the Hermit, and the Martyr-
dom of St. Sebastian. The next hall is devoted
to- the representation of the Liberal Arts. Critics
generally deny that the decoration of the last two
rooms is the work of Pinturicchio, but the three
large rooms which he certainly decorated form an
exquisite museum. Following the Sicnese school
Pinturicchio enlivened his paintings by making use of
sculptured reliefs glistening with gold which he mixed
with his frescoes. In 1501 he decorated the chapel of
the Blessed Sacrament in St. INlary Major at Spello.
On the ceiling he painted four Sibyls and on the walls
the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Shepherds and
the Arrival of the Magi, and Jesus in the midst of the
Doctors. He had a special love for these pictures for
in them he placed his own portrait. In 1.502 Cardinal
Francisco Piccolomini commissioned him to depict the
life of his uncle, Pius II, in ten large compositions on
the side walls of the Piccolomini library at Siena.
These frescoes are fifteenth-century lahlcnux vivants in
which people of all conditions arc represented. Above
the altar erected at the entrance to the Library is seen
the Coronation of Pius III. Pinturicchio, again sum-
moned to Rome by Julius II, painted on the ceiling
of the choir of Sta Maria del Popolo splendid Sibyls
and Doctors of the Church, in stucco frames separated
by graceful arabesques.
Crowe and C.vvalc.^selle. A new history of painting in Italy, III (London. 1866), 256: Burckhardt and Bode, Le Cicerone, tr. GERARD, II (Paris, 1892), 588-91; Ehrle and Stevenson. Gli affreschi del Pinturicchio nelV appartamento Borgia (Rome, 1897) ; Steimann. Pinluricchio (Bielefeld, 1898); Boyer d'Agen. Pin- turicchio in Siena (Berlin, 1903); Ricci, Pinturicchio, tr. into French (Paris, 1903) : Sortais, Pinturicchio et I'Ecole ombrienne in Excursions artistiques et litteraires (Paris. 1903), 2nd series, 1- 89; GoFFiN. Pinturicchio (Paris. 1906); P^r.at^, Pinturicchio ia Hist, de VArt d\\ndr6 Michel, IV (Paris. 1909), 317-29.
Gaston Sortais.
Pinzdn, MartIn Alonso, Spanish na\'igator and companion of Columbus on his first voyage to the New World, b. at Palos de Moguer, 1441; d. there at the convent of La Rdbida, 1493. Sprung from a family of seamen, he became a hardy sailor and skilful pilot. According to Parkman and other historians, he sailed under Cousin, a navigator from Dieppe, to the eastern coast of Africa, whence they were carried far to the south-west. They there discovered an unknown land and a mighty river. Pinz6n's conduct on this voyage was so mutinous that Cousin entered a complaint to the admiralty on their return home, and had him dis- missed from the maritime scr\-ice of Dieppe. Re- turning to Spain Pinz6n became .acquainted with Columbus through Fray Juan Perez de ISIarchina, prior of the convent of La Rdbida, and became an enthusiastic promoter of the scheme of the great navigator. Other historians account differently for the origin of Pinz6n's interest in Columbus's project. According to these, he heard of the scheme several years after he had retired from active life as a sailor, and established with his brothers a shipbuilding firm
in his native town. During a visit to Rome he learned
from the Holy Office of the tithes which had been paid
from the beginning of the fifteenth century from a
country named Vinland, and examined the charts of
the Norman explorers. On his return home he sup-
ported the claims of Columbus, when his opinion was
sought by Queen Isabella's advisers concerning the
proposed voyage. It was he who paid the one-eighth
of the expense demanded from Columbus as his share,
and built the three vessels for the voyage. Through
his influence also Columbus secured the crews for the
transatlantic journey. Pinz6n commanded the
"Pinta", and his brother Vicente Yanez the "Nina".
On 21 November, 1492, he deserted Columbus off
Cuba, hoping to be the first to discover the imaginary
island of Osabeque. He was the first to discover
Haiti (Hispaniola), and the river where he landed
(now the Porto Caballo) was long called after him
the River of Martin Alonso. He carried off thence
four men and two girls, intending to steal them as
slaves, but he was compelled to restore them to their
homes by Columbus, whom he rejoined on the coast
of Haiti on 6 January, 1493. It was during this
absence that the flagship was driven ashore, and
Columbus compelled to take to the "Nina". In
excuse for his conduct, Pinz6n afterwards alleged
stress of weather. Off the coast of the Azores he
again deserted, and set sail with all speed for Spain,
hoping to be the first to communicate the news of the
discover}-. Driven by a hurricane into the port of
Bayonne in Galicia, he sent a letter to the king asking
for an audience. The monarch refusing to receive
anyone but the admiral, Pinz6n sailed for Palos, which
he reached on the same day as Columbus (15 ^Iarch,
1493). Setting out immediately for Madrid to make
a fresh attempt to see the king, he was met by a
messenger who forbade him to appear at court. Anger
and jealousy, added to the privations of the voyage,
undermined his health, and led to his death a few
months later.
In addition to the various biographies of Columbus, consult especially .\scensio, Martin Alonso Pimon, estudio histdrico (Madrid. 1892); Fernandez Dubo, Colin, Pimon (Madrid,
1883). Thomas Kennedy.
Piombo, Sebastian del, more correctly known as Sebastian Luciaxi, Venetian portrait painter, b. at Venice, 1485; d. in Rome, 1547. He was known as del Piombo, from the office, con- ferred upon him by Clement VII, of keeper of the leaden seals. He was a pupil of Giovanni Bellini, .and later on of Giorgione. His first idea w.os to become a religious or an eccl('sia,--tii'. .and it is iinilialilc that hetook minor orders and had every intention of proceeding to the priesthood, but he was strongly in- terested in music, devoted consider- abletimeto study- ing that .art, and in so doing became .acquainted with Giorgione, a clever musician, who it appears induced him to delay his procedure towards the priesthood and give some attention to painting. It was on Giorgione's recommendation that he entered the studio of Bellini and, later, worked with Giorgione in his own studio. From the time of his acquaintance with him, we hear
