SODOMA

Giovanni Antonio Bazzi known as Sodoma, was born in Vercelli, but having learned his trade in Siena was considered Sienese for adoption and then fellow of Agostino Chigi.

He was Raphael's friend who portrayed him at his side in the famous “School of Athens”.
Sodoma was the son of a shoemaker, but had to show a precocious talent for drawing, as only thirteen a noble of Vercelli, Francesco dè Tizzoni, took him under his protection and sent him to learn the art from the painter Martin Spannocchi .
We do not know in which year he moved to Siena, where he was already active in 1503 and took the name of Sodom.

Why Sodoma?
Sodom was a Tuscan corruption of his pet phrase “su andoma” (= ie go).

When Agostino Chigi discovered Sodoma commissioned him works in Siena and Rome.

The fresco of “The Marriage of Alexander and Roxane” is one of his best works, delicate and refined seems to enjoy the influence of Leonardo and Raphael.

Sodom, artist of extraordinary fertility, sees critics and audiences divided in opposite judgment.
But to what extent can be objective the judgment, when the emotion is the result of subjective perception?

In the garden of the Villa Farnesina a Latin inscription solves the issue:
“Quisquis huc accedis: mihi quod tibi horridum videtur amoenum east, si placet maneas, si taedet abeas, utrumque gratum” - “For you who come here, what you feel bad for me is beautiful, if you like, stay, if you do not like go away as well, thanks anyway”.

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