Volterra, Daniele da (1509–1566)

Italian painter, sculptor, and architect. He was a follower of Michelangelo, and such works as The Massacre of the Innocents (Uffizi, Florence) show the trend of Mannerism towards baroque. Volterra is often remembered as the artist who, under the orders of Pope Paul IV, was commissioned to paint loincloths on the nude figures in Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel – for which he acquired the nickname ‘Il Braghettone’ (the breeches maker).

Trained under the Italian painter Il Sodoma, Volterra moved to Rome in about 1541. He executed several notable frescoes, the most celebrated being the Deposition (1541) in the Orsini chapel in the church of Santa Trinità dei Monti. His style was first formed by Il Vaga and also by the study of Raphael Sanzio, but Michelangelo, with whom he worked, became his main inspiration.He also produced a bronze portrait bust of Michelangelo (about 1564, Bargello, Florence, and Louvre, Paris).