appeal of tableaux vivants (which also included Annunci-
ation and Nativity scenes) in polychromed terracotta,
wood, or wax, is explained by their uncanny realistic qual-
ities. This vogue culminated in the episodic set of tableaux
of the life of the Virgin and of Christ at the Sacro Monte of
Varallo in the Sesia valley northwest of Milan.
A number of conditions continued to affect the course
of the development of sculpture in Italy, which was virtu-
ally dominated by the Florentines in the 15th and 16th
centuries. The technological advances of the Quattrocento
and the increasing significance of archaeological finds
(such as the discovery of the first-century-BCELaocoön
statue in Rome in 1506) inspired a concept of perfection
which characterizes the art of the 16th century. The study
of collections of antiquities, like that of Lorenzo de’
MEDICI, inspired young sculptors in the 1490s to formu-
late a new ideal of beauty, grace, and harmony. The chal-
lenge not only to match but also to outdo antique
sculpture prompted a shift to colossal scale in sculpture
for public places and funerary projects. The relationship
of sculpture and its architectural setting was tuned to a
perfect harmony. The creative power of the artist, filtered
through an aesthetic vision of perfection, provided the po-
tential to surpass nature; expression of the artifice of art
replaced verisimilitude as the primary objective. The evo-
lution of art theory in the 16th century and the corollary
notion of the artist-philosopher was critical to the formu-
lation of the concept of the artist as genius and led to the
establishment of academies of design by mid-century.
MICHELANGELO, the premier artist of the age and recog-
nized master of painting, sculpture, and architecture, be-
came the principal exponent of the concept of disegno,
explaining it as the unifying factor among those arts. His
avowed allegiance to sculpture above all secured the prin-
cipal position in the hierarchy for this medium.
The political and religious climate that followed the
Sack of Rome in 1527 and accompanied the gathering
COUNTER-REFORMATIONfurther affected artistic produc-
tion. The strengthening of a powerful international aris-
tocracy was mirrored by the growing importance of more
localized Italian courts. Patrons favored suave, attenuated
figures crafted of precious materials which represented in-
tellectualized encores of the work of Michelangelo,
Raphael, and Leonardo, either on a grand scale or trans-
lated into decorative motifs on objets de virtu. CELLINI, Vin-
cenzo DANTI, and Bartolommeo AMMANATIwere among
the most important exponents of this style. In contrast,
the new Counter-Reform piety in Rome and strong ten-
dencies towards realism in Venice tempered the excessive
refinements of the maniera (see MANNERISM) in those cul-
tural centers.
From the late 15th century, but especially in the 16th
century, Italian artists in all media were called to work in
the courts of England, France, Spain, Portugal, and
Poland; artists from the north and from Spain traveled to
Italy to gain firsthand experience. Most artistic production
throughout Europe carried an Italianate stamp. In Ger-
many, Konrad MEIT, for example, produced small stat-
uettes in alabaster, bronze, and wood, classical in style and
subject. Florentine Mannerism enjoyed primacy at the
French court, evoking a response from the talented native
sculptors Jean GOUJON, Germain PILON, and Ligier
RICHIER. Appropriately, in the last decades of the 16th cen-
tury, northern and southern traditions fused in the work
of the Flemish sculptor GIAMBOLOGNA, who lived princi-
pally in Florence. His technical and compositional virtu-
osity represented a culmination of Renaissance ideals and
set a course for the development of the European Baroque.
Further reading: Phyllis P. Bober and Ruth Rubin-
stein, Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture: A Hand-
book of Sources (London: Harvey Miller, 1986)
GERMANY: Michael Baxandall, The Limewood Sculptors of
Renaissance Germany (New Haven, Conn. and London:
Yale University Press, 1980) ITALY: Charles Avery, Floren-
tine Renaissance Sculpture (London: John Murray, 1970);
Suzanne B. Butters, The Triumph of Vulcan: Sculptors’ Tools,
Porphyry, and the Prince in Ducal Florence (Florence, Italy:
Olschki, 1996); John Pope-Hennessy, Italian Renaissance
Sculpture (1958; 3rd ed. Oxford, U.K.: Phaidon, 1986); ∼,
Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture (1963; new
ed. Oxford, U.K.: Phaidon, 1986).sea-beggars Dutch Calvinist privateers who played a
vital part in the successful Dutch revolt against Spanish
rule. They took their name from a scornful reference by a
Spanish nobleman to Dutch petitioners for religious toler-
ation in the Compromise of BREDA(1566). In 1572 they
achieved an important breakthrough in their struggle
against Spain when they took the port of Brill in the name
of WILLIAM(I) THE SILENT. The conquest of Flushing soon
followed.
See also: NETHERLANDS, REVOLT OF THESebastiano del Piombo (Sebastiano Luciani) (c. 1485–
1547) Italian painter
Born in Venice, Sebastiano trained and studied under
PALMA VECCHIO, TITIAN, Giovanni BELLINI, and GIORGIONE.
After Giorgione’s death (1510) Sebastiano completed sev-
eral of his paintings, while his own work Salome (1510;
National Gallery, London) is clearly influenced by Gior-
gione’s style. In 1511 Sebastiano settled in Rome, where he
remained, apart from a brief period in Venice (1528–29).
He became one of RAPHAEL’s circle, working upon the Villa
FARNESINA, before falling out with Raphael and becoming
an adherent of MICHELANGELO. Sebastiano’s Raising of
Lazarus (c. 1517–19; National Gallery, London) was
painted for Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici in direct competi-
tion with Raphael, while Michelangelo himself con-
tributed the cartoon for Sebastiano’s Pietà (c. 1520–25;
Musico Civico, Viterbo). Sebastiano also painted a num-SSeebbaassttiiaannoo ddeell PPiioommbboo 4 43355