Saint Antoine Ermite

1511

Moves to Rome at Chigi's invitation

In spring the banker and patron Agostino Chigi, sent to Venice by Pope Julius II to win support in the War of the League of Cambrai, invites Sebastiano to Rome to decorate his villa; when Chigi returns to Rome some six months later, he takes the painter with him. Sebastiano will remain in Rome for the rest of his life.

c. 1515

Alliance with Michelangelo

By about 1515 he has grown close to Michelangelo, who sees him as a kind of deputy in painting and wants to set him against Raphael, whose rivalry with Michelangelo has become intense. The friendship lasts nearly twenty years, until 1534.

late 1516

Rivalry with Raphael over the Narbonne altarpieces

Cardinal Giulio de' Medici orders two altarpieces for his see of Narbonne: “The Transfiguration” from Raphael and “The Raising of Lazarus” from Sebastiano, a contest engineered by Michelangelo. From then on Sebastiano's rivalry with Raphael is plain to see.

1520

“Lazarus” and “Transfiguration” hung together in the Vatican

Right after Raphael's death the two paintings destined for Narbonne are hung side by side in the Vatican; both are praised, but Raphael's is generally preferred.

1531

Becomes Keeper of the Papal Seal

After the death of the previous holder Sebastiano wins this lucrative office from Pope Clement VII by promising to pay the other chief contender, the painter Giovanni da Udine of Raphael's workshop, 300 scudi a year. From it comes his nickname “del Piombo”.

21 giugno 1547

Died