Pacheco, Francisco (1564–1654) Spanish painter and art
theorist
Pacheco was born at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but when
still young he moved to Seville, where he became a canon
at the cathedral and opened an art academy which at-
tracted numerous pupils. An enthusiast for Italian art,
Pacheco collected Italian Renaissance drawings, but his
own work chiefly comprised academically correct, if
somewhat lifeless, religious paintings. Many of these are
still to be seen in or around Seville. He was also a sought-
after portraitist. A visit to Madrid and Toledo (1611)
brought him into contact with EL GRECO, whose interest in
chiaroscuro he then came to share. Pacheco’s Arte de la pin-
tura (c. 1640) is a significant text in the development of
Spanish art. Velázquez was his son-in-law and most fa-
mous pupil.

Pacher, Michael (active 1462–1498) Austrian sculptor
and painter
Pacher is first recorded in 1467, at Bruneck in the Tyrol; it
seems likely that he was born in this region, though he
traveled extensively. His key surviving works are the in-
complete altar at Gries, near Bolzano (1471–88), the high
altar at St. Wolfgang, near Salzburg (1471–88), and the
painted Fathers of the Church altarpiece in Munich
(c. 1479–82). At the time of his death, he was putting the
finishing touches to his colossal high altar at Salzburg
parish church, which was almost entirely destroyed dur-
ing the 18th century.
Early influences upon Pacher were Hans Multscher
(active in the Tyrol during the 1450s) and Nicolaus GER-
HAERT VAN LEYDEN(active 1462–73), whose sculptural
style was disseminated by the engravings of the MASTER

E. S. Pacher’s Gries and St. Wolfgang altars suggest that he

visited the Netherlands between 1469 and 1471, where he

encountered the paintings of Hugo van der GOESand Jan

van EYCK. His fragmentary and undated altarpieces of St.

Thomas (Graz) and St. Lawrence (Vienna and Munich)

indicate that he visited Padua, probably before 1465,

where he was profoundly influenced by the frescoes of

MANTEGNAand took note of the altar by DONATELLOin the

Santo. Pacher ignored the classical formal vocabulary of

Italian art, but became a master of one-point perspective

and foreshortening. In his large composite altars, with

polychromed carved central panels and pinnacles and

painted shutters, his mastery of pictorial space helped to

bridge the gap between sculptural and pictorial elements.

Out of his various sources Pacher forged a lyrical and ex-

pressive style that breathed new life into the traditional

German carved wooden altar. He had a large circle of fol-

lowers.

Pacification of Ghent See GHENT

Pacioli, Luca (c. 1445–1517) Italian mathematician

Little is known about Pacioli’s life other than that he was

born at Burgo in Tuscany, became a Franciscan friar some

time after 1471, taught mathematics in several towns of

northern Italy, and was a friend of LEONARDO DA VINCI. He

wrote numerous mathematical works, the best known of

which, Somma di aritmetica, geometria, proporzioni e pro-

porzionalità (Venice, 1494), is one of the earliest printed

mathematical texts. Though entirely derivative, it man-

ages to convey in the vernacular, and in an improved no-

tation, the new mathematics first developed by Leonardo

of Pisa in his Liber abaci (1202). Pacioli was well aware of

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