Biographies

Giovanni Antonio (Sodoma) Bazzi (1477 – 1549) He was born in Vercelli but lived and worked mainly in Siena. He was one of a number of artists influenced by both Raphael and Leonardo. From the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica for Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (who until recent years was erroneously named Razzj):

He is said to have borne also the name of Sodona as a family name, and likewise the name Tizzioni; Sodona is signed upon some of his pictures. While Bazzi was corrupted into Razzi, Sodona may have been corrupted into Sodoma; Vasari, however, accounted for the name differently, as a nickname from his personal character. This version appears to have been inspired by Bazzis pupil and subsequent rival Beccafumi. In R. H. Cust’s recent work on the painter another suggestion is made of the Italian friend. Vasari tells a story that, Bazzis horse having won a race at Florence, a cry of Who is the owner? went up, and Bazzi contemptuously answered Sodoma in order to insult the Florentines (according to Milanesi); and Mr Cust offers the suggestion that the racing name was really a clipped form of Sodoma, I am the trainer. Whatever the real origin, the name was long supposed to indicate an immoral character.