Piombo, Fret Sebastiano del, an eminent Italian painter, noted in the history of sacred art, was born in 1485 at Venice, whence he was called also " Veneziano." His surname, according to Lanzi, was Luciano, though it does not appear that he was known by it in his own time, or that he ever marked his pictures with it. On his principal performance in oil, the Raising of Lazarus, the words '• Sebastianus Venetus faciebat" appear in characters no doubt traced by himself. He was a skil- ful musician, particularly on the lute, but abandoned that science for painting, the rudiments of which he acquired under Bellini, but afterwards became the dis- ciple of Giorgione. whose style of coloring he carefully studied and successfully imitated. He first distinguished himself as a portrait-painter, to which his powers were peculiarly adapted. His portraits are boldly designed and full of character; the heads and hands are admira- bly drawn, with an exquisite tone of color and extraor- dinary relief. The first historical picture which estab- lished his reputation was the altar-piece in the church of San Gio. Crisostomo at Venice, which, from its rich- ness and harmony of coloring, has frequently been mis- taken for a work by his master Giorgione. Sebastiano was invited to Rome by Agostino Chigi, a rich mer- chant who traded at Venice, by whom he was employed in ornamenting his palace of the Farnesina, in conjunction with Baldassare Peruzzi, where Iiaffaelle had painted his celebrated Galatea. Thus painting in competition, he found his own deficiency of invention, to remedy which he studied the antique, and obtained the instruc- tion and assistance of Michael Angelo. Indeed it is said that that illustrious painter, growing jealous of the fame of Raffaelle, availed himself of the powers of Se- bastiano as a colorist, in the hope that, assisted by his composition, Piombo might become a successful rival. Michael Angelo accordingly furnished the designs for the Pieta in the church of the Conventuali at Vi- terbo, and the Transfiguration and the Flagellation in San Pietro in Montorio at Rome, the execution of which, however, in consequence of Piombo's tedious mode of proceeding, occupied six years. The extraor- dinary beauty of the coloring, and the grandeur of Mi- chael Angelo's composition and design in these cele- brated productions, were the objects of universal surprise and applause. At this time cardinal Julian de' Medici commissioned Raffaelle to paint his picture of the Transfiguration, and being desirous of presenting an altar-piece to the cathedral of Narbonne, of which he was archbishop, he engaged Sebastiano to paint a pict- ure of the Raising of Lazarus, of the same dimensions. Vasari states that in the composition of this work he was assisted by Michael Angelo; and in the magnifi- cent collection of drawings belonging to Sir Thomas Lawrence there were two careful sketches of the Laz- arus, made by Michael Angelo, and several slighter ones of other parts of the design. On its completion the picture was publicly exhibited at Rome, in compe- tition with the Transfiguration, and it excited general admiration, although thus brought into direct competi- tion with the crowning glory of Kaft'aelle's pencil. It was sent to the cathedral of Narbonne, for which it was painted, and remained till the middle of the 18th cen- tury, when it was removed by the regent of France into the Orleans collection. Having been brought to Eng- land with the rest of that collection in 1792, it was pur- chased for two thousand guineas, and is now deposited in the National Gallery at London. It was painted on wood, but has been transferred to canvas ; its size is twelve feet six inches high, and nine feet six inches wide. After the death of Raffaelle, Piombo was called the first painter in Rome. He was greatly patronized by pope Clement VII, who conferred upon him the office of keeper of the papal signet, which was the cause of his name, Del Pi- ombo, in allusion to the lead of the seal. This position rendering it necessary that he should assume a religious habit, he abandoned the profession of a painter, and was thenceforth called Fra Sebastiano del Piombo. His
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works were numerous; some fmo ones are in Madrid and Si. Petersburg; many are in Venice, and they are seen in several Continental galleries. The last work was the chapel of the < Ihigi family, in Santa Maria del Popolo, which he lefl imperfect, and ii was afterwards finished by Francisco Salviati. He died of a fever, al Rome, in I">I7. He is said to have been the inventor of painting upon walls with oil-color, and of preventing the colors from becoming dark by applying, in the firsl instance, a mixture of mastic and Grecian pitch, or, : to some authorities, a plaster composed of quick-lime, pitch, and mastic— Ew^Zm^ Cuclop.s.v. See
S| ner, Biog. Hist, of tin Fine Arts, s. v.; Clement,
Painti rs, Sculptors, Architects, etc., s. v.
Pious Workers, a Roman Catholic congregation, founded in 1621 by Caraffa, an Italian nobleman, who was for a time a Jesuit, was approved by pope Gregorj XV, and confirmed in 1634 by pope Urban VIII. This congregation is governed by a superior tribunal, and vows arc' taken, and they serve in missions and other ecclesiastical functions useful to the Church. Their dress is black cloth, like thai of other ecclesiastics.