SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO
(b. 1485, Venezia, d. 1547, Roma)

Birth of the Virgin

1530-48
Mural
Cappella Chigi, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

The Birth of the Virgin is the main altarpiece in the Cappella Chigi, the funerary chapel of the Chigi family. The mural was begun by Sebastiano del Piombo in 1530 but it was left unfinished in 1534. Work on the chapel resumed in 1548 when Francesco Salviati was commissioned to create frescoes on the drum and the spandrels, although Raphael intended mosaics on these surfaces. He also completed the mural above the main altar.