Antonio del Pollaiuolo

Antonio del Pollaiuolo (c. 1429–1498) was born in Florence, the eldest son of a poulterer, the trade that gave the family its name. He trained first as a goldsmith, possibly in Lorenzo Ghiberti's workshop, and Andrea del Castagno was a strong influence on his painting. He had his own workshop by 1459 and worked so closely with his younger brother Piero that many paintings are simply given to both. He was painter, sculptor, engraver and goldsmith, and his most characteristic works show nude male figures in violent action, often centred on Hercules. His one surviving engraving, the Battle of the Nude Men, raised Italian engraving to a new level. The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, painted with Piero in 1473–75 for the Pucci Chapel of Santissima Annunziata, is his largest surviving work and the first large painting whose composition is dictated by the actions of its figures. From about 1484 he was in Rome, making the papal tombs of Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII for St Peter's, and he died there in 1498. Here: Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.