Browning

 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐀́𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒?

𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨 𝐨 𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨? 

 

 

 

Virgin and Child, Giacomo Pacchiarotto

 

 

 

 

Los Angeles, 1984

 

 
Jorge: —Was  Pacchiarotto a real painter ? 

𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐓: -Yes — Pacchiarotto was a real painter, though Browning turns him into a satirical emblem rather than a strict historical portrait.

The historical figure
The painter behind Browning’s poem is Giacomo Pacchiarotti (also called Jacopo Pacchiarotto), born in Siena around 1474 and active into the mid‑16th century. He worked primarily as a religious painter, producing frescoes and tempera panels, and his style shows the influence of Sienese masters like Bernardino Fungai and Matteo di Giovanni. Several of his works are still preserved in Siena today, including paintings in the Pinacoteca Nazionale. 

Pacchiarotti also had a political side: historical records suggest he was involved in Siena’s resistance against Florentine domination, and at one point he fled to France, where he worked alongside Rosso Fiorentino at Fontainebleau. 

Browning’s Pacchiarotto
Browning knew these biographical fragments, but he does not write a biography. Instead, he uses Pacchiarotto as:

a mask for himself,

a symbol of the artist misunderstood by authority and critics,

and a vehicle for comic, defiant self‑defense.

The poem exaggerates Pacchiarotto’s rebelliousness, turning him into a swaggering truth‑teller who lectures popes, emperors, the public, and even Art itself. That theatrical orator you analyzed in Stanza VI is Browning’s invention, not a documented episode from Pacchiarotti’s life.

Why Browning chose him
Pacchiarotti was ideal for Browning because:

he was real but obscure, giving Browning freedom to reshape him,

he lived in a time of artistic and political tension,

and his name itself has a slightly comic sound, which suits Browning’s satirical tone.

Browning even signals this transformation in the poem’s subtitle:
“Pacchiarotto, and How He Worked in Distemper” — where distemper means both a painting technique and a state of agitation.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐚 𝐕𝐈 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑑𝑟𝑦,—ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚,
𝐶𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒, 𝑤𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ, 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚
𝑂𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖,
𝐴𝑛𝑑, 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑗𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦,
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑,
𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑,
𝐻𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛,
𝑇𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑟—𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑥 ℎ𝑖𝑚
𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚
"𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚!"
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚,
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙-𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔,
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑟𝑡—𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 '𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑢𝑚? 𝑃𝑜𝑜ℎ-𝑝𝑜𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠
𝐵𝑦 𝑃𝑜𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑒𝑤𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠,
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠!