Biographies

Pinturicchio (1454 – 1513) He was born in or near Perugia, and worked there and in Rome before settling in Siena, where he did his most important work, the frescoes depicting the life of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini in the library of the Duomo there. A member of the great banking family of Siena, Aeneas Piccolomini was a diplomat who travelled widely in Europe, became a Cardinal and then Pope. He wrote a fascinating memoir of his life as well as some admirable fiction in his youth. As Pope he canonized the local heroine, Catherine of Siena, whose head may still be seen (under glass) in the Church devoted to her in Siena.