Domenico Beccafumi

Domenico Beccafumi was the last great painter of Siena, a Mannerist with a vivid imagination. His pictures have strange light, shimmering colour and elongated, twisting figures, and some of his scenes look almost like dreams.

Born near Siena, he was the son of a farmer and was adopted by a patron whose name he took. He visited Rome and then worked mainly in Siena. He designed parts of the marble floor of Siena Cathedral, including Moses and the Golden Calf. His Fall of the Rebel Angels is in the church of San Niccolò al Carmine.

His works are in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena and the Getty Museum. Look at the light, which seems to come from inside the figures.