Descent into Limbo (Beccafumi)

Painting by Domenico Beccafumi

Descent into Limbo or Descent into Hell is an oil-on-panel painting executed c. 1530–1535 by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Beccafumi, now in the Sienese Grand Masters room in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. With the Saint Martin Nativity and Holy Family with the Infant John the Baptist it is one of the last works commissioned from the artist by the Beccafumi Marsili family for their family chapel at the Basilica of San Francesco in Siena. Damaged by a fire in 1655, the painting was seen by Giorgio Vasari, who praised it for the uniqueness of its figures, prefiguring Mannerism.

It shows Christ descending to the souls in Limbo, including Adam in the centre, a nude Eve to the right and between them King David holding a lyre. In the far background John the Baptist guides the souls, whilst at the bottom is a river divinity. To the left is a figure holding a cross, possibly Dismas the good thief, for whom a preparatory head study is in the Morgan Library and Museum. A preparatory drawing and a sketch for the whole work are both now in the Uffizi, whilst another is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

References

"Catalogue entry". 25 July 2014.
"Catalogue entry".

v t e Domenico Beccafumi
Paintings	Trinity Triptych (1513) Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Uffizi) (c. 1514–1515) Bellanti Madonna (c. 1515) Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata (c. 1515) Saint Paul Enthroned (c. 1515) Marcia (c. 1519) Tanaquil (c. 1519) Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Alte Pinakothek) (c. 1521–1522) Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Galleria Palatina) (c. 1521–1522) Putti Bearing a Tondo Showing the Drunkenness of Noah (c. 1522–1523) Saint Michael Defeats the Rebel Angels (c. 1524) San Martino Nativity (c. 1524) The Choice of Hercules (c. 1520–1525) Deucalion and Pyrrha (c. 1520–1525) Holy Family with the Infant John the Baptist and a Donor (c. 1528) Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (c. 1528) Self-Portrait (c. 1525–1530) The Story of Papirius (c. 1525–1530) Descent into Limbo (c. 1530–1535) Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1539) Sarteano Annunciation (c. 1546)
Related	Oratory of the Compagnia di San Bernardino (frescoes) Palazzo Bindi Sergardi (frescoes) Palazzo Pubblico, Siena San Niccolò al Carmine, Siena Sienese School

Domenico Beccafumi

Paintings

Trinity Triptych (1513)
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Uffizi) (c. 1514–1515)
Bellanti Madonna (c. 1515)
Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata (c. 1515)
Saint Paul Enthroned (c. 1515)
Marcia (c. 1519)
Tanaquil (c. 1519)
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Alte Pinakothek) (c. 1521–1522)
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Galleria Palatina) (c. 1521–1522)
Putti Bearing a Tondo Showing the Drunkenness of Noah (c. 1522–1523)
Saint Michael Defeats the Rebel Angels (c. 1524)
San Martino Nativity (c. 1524)
The Choice of Hercules (c. 1520–1525)
Deucalion and Pyrrha (c. 1520–1525)
Holy Family with the Infant John the Baptist and a Donor (c. 1528)
Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (c. 1528)
Self-Portrait (c. 1525–1530)
The Story of Papirius (c. 1525–1530)
Descent into Limbo (c. 1530–1535)
Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1539)
Sarteano Annunciation (c. 1546)

Oratory of the Compagnia di San Bernardino (frescoes)
Palazzo Bindi Sergardi (frescoes)
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
San Niccolò al Carmine, Siena
Sienese School

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