Antonio del Massaro

Il Pastura's Deposizione (Descent from the Cross), Canino, Viterbo, Church of San Francesco. Antonio del Massaro da Viterbo, or Antonio da Viterbo, nicknamed il Pastura (c. 1450–1516) 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 the Foundation of Art and the 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 (Nativity Scene with Saints John the Baptist and Bartholomew now in the Museo Civico of Viterbo.

After that, he travelled to Orvieto, where it is documented that between 1497 and 1499 he completed the restoration of frescoes originally painted by Ugolino di Prete Ilario for the cathedral, work which had been started by Pinturicchio. For that Cathedral, Il Pastura worked on pieces that featured Biblical scenes such as the Annunciation, Visitation, Presentation to the Temple, and Flight into Egypt. He returned to Viterbo in 1504 and painted a piece called San Terenziano, San Rocco e San Sebastiano (Saint Terence, Saint Roch, and Saint Sebastian), 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 (Saints John the Baptist, James, and Lawrence) 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 Italy Madonna in trono con Bambino benedicente tra santi, Amelia, Italy Deposizione, Cristo in pietà con gli strumenti della passione, Canino, church of San Francesco San Rocco, San Terenziano e San Sebastiano, Capranica, church of Santa Maria Madonna con Bambino in un paesaggio, Naples, private collection (1926) Coppie di angeli reggenti lo stemma del Duomo, Orvieto, Cathedral of Orvieto Presentazione al Tempio, Annunciazione, Visitazione, Orvieto, Cathedral of Orvieto (chancel) Madonna con Bambino in trono, Orvieto, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo San Sebastiano e donatore, Orvieto, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo Affresco con Santi, Orvieto, church of Santissima Trinità Madonna con Bambino in trono tra Santi, Rome, San Cosimato Madonna col Bambino, Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina Sacra Famiglia con San Giovannino in adorazione del Bambino, Rome, collezione Rospigliosi Madonna con Bambino tra Santi, Rome, private collection of Principe Massimo Madonna con Bambino benedicente, Rome, private collection Madonna del Latte in trono, Tarquinia, Museo Nazionale Affreschi, Tarquinia, cathedral Madonna con Bambino benedicente tra Santi, Terni, Pinacoteca comunale Madonna con Bambino incoronata da angeli in una mandorla di cherubini, Tuscania (VT), chiesa di Santa Maria del Riposo Madonna con Bambino benedicente in una mandorla di cherubini, Vercelli, Museo Borgogna (già Roma, collezione principe Orsini) Affreschi, Viterbo, Museo civico (dalla chiesa di San Domenico) Natività, adorazione dei pastori con Santi, Viterbo, Museo civico Stendardo processionale, Viterbo, Museo civico (associated with church of San Clemente) Madonna con Bambino in trono e angeli tra Santi, Viterbo, Museo civico (associated with church of Santa Maria del Paradiso) Orazione nell'orto, Viterbo, Museo civico Edicola affrescata, Viterbo, Palazzo Chigi (Cortile) San Rocco e donatore, Viterbo, church of Sant'Angelo in Spatha Affresco, Viterbo, church of Santa Maria Nuova Affreschi votivi, Viterbo, church of Santa Maria della Peste France Madonna del Latte tra Santi, Grenoble, Musée des beaux-arts Madonna con Bambino benedicente in un paesaggio, Paris, Collection of Comte D'Hautpoul Liechtenstein Madonna con Bambino, due angeli e San Giovannino, Vaduz, Galleria Liechtenstein Switzerland Madonna con Bambino, Lugano, Bruno Scardeoni Collection (1975) United States Morte di Cristo con Maria e San Giovanni, Atlanta, Georgia, High Museum of Art Annunciazione, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts Madonna in trono con Bambino benedicente in un paesaggio, Cambridge (Massachusetts), Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University Madonna con Bambino in trono tra Santi, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection Madonna con Bambino e due angeli, New York, Finch College Madonna con Bambino ed i Santi Girolamo e Francesco, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art Madonna con Bambino in un paesaggio, Sarasota, Florida, Ringling Museum of Art Madonna e due angeli in adorazione del Bambino, Worcester (Massachusetts), Art Museum Vatican City Allegoria della Retorica, della Musica e della Astrologia, Appartamento Borgia (The Room of the Liberal Arts) Resurrezione, Pentecoste, Assunzione della Vergine, Angeli reggenti lo stemma di Papa Alessandro VI, Appartamento Borgia (sala dei Misteri), as a collaborator with Pinturicchio