painted or because the picture’s donor had a special devo-
tion toward them. They may be depicted as absorbed in
meditation or study or in contemplation of the central fig-
ures, as in Giovanni BELLINI’s 1505 altarpiece of the Virgin
with four saints in the church of San Zaccaria in Venice.
This style of composition, with central and flanking fig-
ures occupying the same pictorial space, succeeded earlier
altarpieces in which the various figures were painted on
separate fields or panels. Other Renaissance artists who
employed this composition include MANTEGNA, Fra AN-
GELICO, Fra Filippo LIPPI, TITIAN, HOLBEIN, Guido RENI,
and TINTORETTO.
sacra rappresentazione (Italian, “sacred representa-
tion”) A form of sacred drama of popular origin performed
in public squares or other open spaces, especially in 15th-
century Tuscany. The plays, often by anonymous authors
and mainly written in ottava rima, dealt with biblical
events, saints’ lives, or similar religious subjects but in-
cluded elements of realistic characterization and descrip-
tion and allusions to contemporary life. There were no
divisions into acts and scenes and no fixed length, but a
variety of sets were used with scene changes as required.
Presentations were sponsored by lay confraternities.
The plays apparently evolved from sung or spoken di-
alogues that developed in the singing of the lauda, a pop-
ular religious song of praise derived from the liturgy.
Laudes flourished in Umbria among the flagellants (c.
1260), and the form, with its octosyllabic line, was
adopted by the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi (1236–1306)
and spread to the rest of Italy. Among writers of the sacra
rappresentazione are Feo Belcari (1410–84), author of La
rappresentazione di Abram ed Isac (1449), SAVONAROLA, Ja-
copo NARDI, and Lorenzo de’ MEDICI, whose Rappresen-
tazione dei SS. Giovanni e Paolo (1491) was performed
towards the end of his life. During the 16th century texts
of the plays were published but public performances grad-
ually declined.
Sadeler family A dynasty of late 16th- and 17th-century
artists, best known for their vast output of engravings,
mainly reproduced after the designs of other painters. The
head of the family was Johannes I (1550–c. 1600), who
was born in Brussels, a member of the Antwerp guild, and
was also active in Frankfurt and at the court of Wilhelm V
of Bavaria, as well as in Florence, Verona, Rome, and
Venice. His brother Raphael I (1560–1628/32), born in
Antwerp, accompanied him to Germany. His son Justus
(1583–1620) was also an editor, and his nephew Aegidius
(c. 1570–1629) was both painter and engraver. After
visiting Germany and Italy he moved to the court of
Rudolf II at Prague (1597), where he died. Raphael I had
three sons, Raphael II (1584–1632), Philip (active 1610s),
and Johannes II (died 1665), all of whom were active at
Munich. As a number of their prints are signed simply
with an initial, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the
work of one member of the family from that of another.Sadoleto, Cardinal Jacopo (1477–1547) Italian
humanist and churchman
Sadoleto was born in Modena and studied Latin at Ferrara
and Greek at Rome. He gained a reputation for his Latin
style and for his hexameter poem on the newly discovered
(1506) late first-century-BCEstatuary group (now in the
Vatican) depicting the punishment of the Trojan priest
Laocoön, who with his sons was strangled by a serpent
after Laocoön had attempted to warn his fellow-citizens
against taking the Trojan Horse into Troy. Pope Leo X
made him his secretary (1513) and bishop of Carpentras
(1517). He wrote many moral and pastoral works and a
commentary on the Epistle to the Romans which was
placed on the Index because of suspicions that it con-
tained crypto-Protestant ideas. Sadoleto certainly felt that
the Church was in need of serious reform and was sympa-
thetic to those pressing for change, but he did not advo-
cate the rejection of papal authority, and in 1539 he
attempted to win Calvinistic Geneva back to the Catholic
Church with an eloquent appeal to Christian unity. In a
letter to Clement VII after the Sack of Rome (1527), he in-
terpreted the catastrophe as a divine punishment. In 1536
he was made a cardinal by Paul III. He was buried in San
Pietro in Vincoli, Rome. His correspondence is a valuable
primary source because of his contacts with many of the
leading noble Italian families. He also wrote the educa-
tional treatise De pueris recte instituendis (1533).Sahagún, Bernardino de (1500–1590) Franciscan
missionary and ethnographer
Sent (1529) to New Spain (Mexico) to evangelize the na-
tive Americans, Sahagún learned Nahuatl and began a life-
long study of Aztec culture. This pursuit sometimes
brought him into conflict with civil or Church authorities;
for instance, Philip II ordered in 1577 that all research on
Indian cultures should stop. However, through the back-
ing of his superior Fray Rodrigo de Sequera, Sahagún’s 12-
book Historia de las cosas de Nueva España, was preserved
and translated from Latin into Spanish. The work is a
milestone in ethnography as Sahagún obtained informa-
tion by the revolutionary method of conducting inter-
views with old people who had experienced the former
Aztec regime.St. Bartholomew’s Day, Massacre of See MASSACRE OF
ST. BARTHOLOMEWSt. Peter’s, Rome The central basilica of the Roman
Catholic Church. The first church, often referred to as Old
St. Peter’s, was dedicated in about 330 CEby Constantine
I but was demolished in the 16th century after it had
fallen into a state of disrepair. In 1506 Pope JULIUS IIcom-SStt.. PPeetteerr’’ss,, RRoommee 4 42233