Girolamo del Pacchia

Who was Girolamo del Pacchia?

Girolamo del Pacchia, Italian painter, son of a Hungarian cannon-founder, was born, probably in Siena.

Having joined a turbulent club named the Bardotti he disappeared from Siena in 1535, when the club was dispersed, and nothing of a later date is known about him. His most celebrated work is a fresco of the "Nativity of the Virgin," in the chapel of S Bernardino, Siena, graceful and tender, with a certain artificiality.

Another renowned fresco, in the church of S Caterina, represents that saint on her visit to St Agnes of Montepulciano, who, having just expired, raises her foot by miracle. In the National Gallery, London there is a "Virgin and Child."

The forms of G. del Pacchia are fuller than those of Perugino; the drawing is not always unexceptionable; the female heads have sweetness and beauty of feature, and some of the colouring has noticeable force.