Antonio del Massaro


Antonio del Massaro da Viterbo, or Antonio da Viterbo, nicknamed il Pastura was an Italian painter.

Life and career

The earliest mention of Il Pastura occurs in December 1478, when the artist participated in the establishment of Foundation of Art and University of San Luca dei Pittori, in Rome. Il Pastura may have lived in Rome for some time before this event, although the details of his career in Rome are uncertain. However, Il Pastura certainly participated in decorating some work by Pinturicchio in the rooms of the Borgia Apartment in the Vatican. In Viterbo, Il Pastura painted the Presepio con i Santi Giovanni Battista e Bartolomeo, which was probably influenced by the work of Luca Signorelli. It is conserved in the church of Santa Maria a Capranica.
After the death of Lorenzo da Viterbo, Il Pastura became the most important Viterbese painter of the time. He created frescoes in Viterbo such as Santi Giovanni Battista, Girolamo e Lorenzo for the baptistery of Santa Maria Nuova, which was possibly influenced by the work of Antoniazzo Romano and Perugino. He also decorated the aedicule for the courtyard of the Chigi Palace with a Madonna and Child. Other important works, executed between 1508 and 1509, include the decoration of the chancel of the cathedral of Tarquinia, which was commissioned by the Vitelleschi family.

Critical reception

The Italian scholar Italo Faldi has observed the success with critics that Il Pastura's work has enjoyed. Even though Giorgio Vasari did not include Il Pastura's name in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Il Pastura's reputation benefited from a resurgence of interest in his work in the 19th century. One of the first monographs on an Italian painter was one written on Il Pastura, in 1901, by E. Steinmann.

Works