four years and joined the monastery of San Marco in
Florence. His mature works, including the Noli mi Tan-
gere (1506; Paris, Musee du Louvre) and the Vision of Saint
Bernard (1507; Florence, Uffizi) embrace the expansive,
monumental High Renaissance style initiated by Leo-
nardo and Raphael. During a 1508 visit to Venice, Fra
Bartolommeo assimilated the Venetian light and lumi-
nous color of Giovanni Bellini, as can be seen in his Ma-
donna and Child with Saints (1509; Florence, Museo di San
Marco). In 1514 Fra Bartolommeo traveled to Rome,
where the works of Michelangelo and Raphael made a
profound impression upon him. Later altarpieces, in-
cluding the Annunciation (1515; Paris, Louvre) and the
Isaiah and Job (both 1516; Florence, Uffizi) recall the
grandiose forms of Michelangelo.
GERRIT VAN BATTEM
Rotterdam circa 1636-1684
According to tradition, van Battem studied with Abra-
ham Furnerius, a landscape draughtsman of the Rem-
brandt school. Van Battem might also have studied with
his guardian, the painter Jan Daemen Cool. One of his
earliest works, a landscape etching signed and dated
1658, shows the influence of Herman Saftleven. In 1667
van Battem married Margaretha Scheffer, sister of the
Utrecht painter Anton Scheffer. Van Battem lived in
Utrecht until 1669, when he returned to Rotterdam. In
1678 he received payment from the municipal govern-
ment of Rotterdam for the restoration of a painting in
the stock exchange. During the 16705 he painted the fig-
ures in a number of landscapes by Jacob van Ruisdael.
Van Battem's rare oil paintings generally depict hilly,
heavily wooded river valleys. He is best known for his
thickly populated gouaches depicting winter scenes, ca-
nals, and imaginary views of Dutch towns.DOMENICO BECCAFUMI
Siena 1486-1551
Domenico Beccafumi, one of the most original Man-
nerist painters of the sixteenth century, worked mainly
in his native Siena. Between 1510 and 1512 he lived in
Rome, where he studied antiquity and the work of Ra-
phael and Michelangelo. However, the classicizing Flor-
entine style of Fra Bartolommeo was ultimately more
persuasive to him, as is demonstrated in Saint Catherine
Receiving the Stigmata (1513-1515; Pinacoteca Nazionale
di Siena). In 1518 Beccafumi began a series of designs for
the narrative pavements of Siena's cathedral, a commis-
sion that occupied him intermittently throughout his ca-
reer. Following a second Roman sojourn in 1519-1520,
Beccafumi amplified the spiritual tenor of his painting
and concentrated on the dramatic effects of chiaroscuro.
The contrast between plastic and atmospheric values and
the exaggeration of proportions and color he favored
were further emphasized in the Nativity (1522/23; Siena,
San Martino) and the fresco decorations in the Sala del
Concistoro (1529-1535; Siena, Palazzo Pubblico). Im-
portant later works such as the Christ in Limbo (1535/36;
Siena, Pinacoteca) and the Annunciation (1545-1546; Sar-
teano, SS. Martino e Vittoria) developed these stylistic
tendencies further.GIAN LORENZO BERNINI
Naples 1598-Rome 1680
Bernini, one of the most important artists of
seventeenth-century Italy, worked as a sculptor, archi-
tect, painter, and scenographic designer. His father, the
sculptor Pietro Bernini, moved the family from Naples
to Rome in 1605. Works of his early maturity, including
the Apollo and Daphne (1621-1622) and the David (1623),
both in the Galleria Borghese, reveal the young artist's
fascination with the realistic rendering of forms and
emotional expressions. For the Basilica of Saint Peter he
undertook a series of projects which included the Bal-
dachino (1624-1633) and thendesign for the Piazza, begun
in 1656. In addition he realized numerous monumental
commissions that transformed the appearance of Rome,
including the Fountain of the Four Rivers (1648-1651) in
the Piazza Navona and the church of SantAndrea al
Quirinale (1658-1670). His greatest works are those in
which he created an illusionistic, theatrical ensemble in-
cluding painting, sculpture, and architecture, as can be
seen in the Cappella Cornaro (1645 -1652) in Santa Maria
della Vittoria.WILLIAM BLAKE
London 1757-1827
The son of a hosier, Blake entered Henry Par's drawing
school in London in 1767. From 1772 to 1778 he was ap-
prenticed to the engraver James Basire, through whom
he gained his first exposure to medieval art by copying
tombs for antiquarian publications. In 1779 Blake en-
rolled in the antique school of the Royal Academy, where
he drew from casts. He devoted much of his energy to
his poetry during this period, publishing his first book
of verse, Poetical Sketches, in 1783. Songs of Innocence
(1788) was the first in a series of illuminated books in
which Blake used his unique technique of printing both
text and design outline on one surface, with color and
gold added later by hand. Around 1799 he established
contact with his most important patron, Thomas Butts,
for whom he made the first series of illustrations to the334 ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES