Pollaiuolo

Two Italian artists, brothers. They ran an artistic workshop in their hometown Florence and later in Rome. Both were painters, sculptors, goldsmiths, engravers, and designers. Antonio, widely considered the better artist, is said to have been the first Renaissance artist to make a serious study of anatomy. The Martyrdom of St Sebastian (1475; National Gallery, London) is a joint work.

The brothers' largest commissions were the papal tombs of Innocent VIII (commissioned by himself) and of Sixtus IV (paid for by the future Julius II) in St Peter's, Rome. Piero concentrated on painting and his individual work includes an elegant fresco series of Virtues 1469 (Uffizi, Florence) and an Annunciation about 1470 (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). Antonio, who specialized in sculpture and worked with Ghiberti on the doors of the Baptistery, Florence, is best known for his engraving The Battle of the Nude Gods about 1465, which show his fascination with anatomy.

Lorenzo de' Medici called Antonio ‘the leading artist of this city, perhaps of all time’. The contemporary art historian Giorgio Vasari praised The Martyrdom of St Sebastian because it carefully depicted the tense muscles of archers straining to reload their crossbows. Antonio's bronze satuette of Hercules and Antaeus about 1475-80 is another example of closely observed anatomy.