The School of Ferrara was a group of
painters
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
which flourished in the
Duchy of Ferrara
The Duchy of Ferrara ( la, Ducatus Ferrariensis; it, Ducato di Ferrara; egl, Ducà ad Frara) was a state in what is now northern Italy. It consisted of about 1,100 km2 south of the lower Po River, stretching to the valley of the lower Re ...
during the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
. Ferrara was ruled by the
Este family
The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries.
The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...
, well known for its patronage of the arts. Patronage was extended with the ascent of
Ercole d'Este I
Ercole I d'Este KG (English: ''Hercules I''; 26 October 1431 – 25 January 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the House of Este. He was nicknamed ''North Wind'' and ''The Diamond''.
Biography
Ercole was born i ...
in 1470, and the family continued in power till
Alfonso II, Ercole's great-grandson, died without an heir in 1597. The duchy was then occupied in succession by Papal and Austrian forces. The school evolved styles of painting that appeared to blend influences from
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
,
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
,
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, and
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
.
The ties to
Bolognese School were particularly strong. Much of the local collections, like those of the
Gonzaga family
)
, type = Noble house
, country =
, estates = Ducal Palace (Mantua) Ducal Palace (Nevers)
, titles =
* Prince of Arches
* Duke of Montferrat
* Duke of Mantua
* Duke of Guastalla
* Duke of Nevers
* Duke ...
in Mantua, were dispersed with the end of the Este line in 1598. Especially in the late 15th century Ferrara was also a main centre of
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
in Italy. The most famous
prints
In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserve ...
it produced are the two sets traditionally, if inaccurately, known as the
Mantegna Tarocchi
The Mantegna Tarocchi, also known as the Tarocchi Cards, Tarocchi in the style of Mantegna, Baldini Cards, are two different sets each of fifty 15th-century Italian old master prints in engraving, by two different unknown artists. The sets are k ...
, each by an unidentified master. A list of painters of the School of Ferrara, with the page for the title entry in Camillo Laderchi's 1856 artist biography, includes:
14th century and before
*
Gelasio di Nicoló, p20
*
Cristoforo da Bologna
Cristoforo da Bologna was an Italian painter. He was active in Bologna, Modena, and Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. I ...
, p28
*
Antonio Alberti
Antonio Alberti was an Italian painter, active mainly in the 15th century in his native city of Ferrara, as well as Bologna and Urbino.
Biography
He painted portraits and sacred subjects. For the sacristy of the church of San Bernardino, outside ...
, p29
15th century
*
Galasso Galassi
*
Cosimo Tura
Cosimo is the Italian form of the Greek name ''Kosmas'' (latinised as '' Cosmas'').
Cosimo may refer to:
Characters
* Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò, hero of Italo Calvino's 1957 novel ''The Baron in the Trees''
Given name Medici family
* Cosimo ...
, p30
*
Francesco Cossa
Francesco del Cossa (c. 1430 – c. 1477) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the School of Ferrara, who after 1470 worked in Bologna. Cossa is best known for his frescoes, especially his collaboration with Cosimo Tura on a cycle of the mon ...
, p32
*
Bono da Ferrara
Bono da Ferrara or Bono Ferrarese (active 1441–1461) was an Italians, Italian painter of the early-Renaissance period.: The National Gallery London painting of ''St Jerome in Landscape''.
Biography
He seems to have been the pupil of both Pisan ...
, p33
*
Stefano da Ferrara
Stefano da Ferrara was an Italian painter from Ferrara who active in the latter half of the 15th century.
Biography
The dates of his birth and death are uncertain. He is described by Vasari as having been the friend of Mantegna. He filled the ch ...
, p37
*
Baldassare Estense
Baldassare Estense (ca. 1443 - after 1504) was an Italian painter.
He was born in Reggio, has been supposed to have been an illegitimate scion of the house of Este, since no mention of his father's name ever occurs in contemporary records, whil ...
, p38
*
Antonio Aleotti
Antonio Aleotti (died 1527) was an Italian painter, first mentioned in records in 1494 and active in Ferrara. Born in Argenta, he is also known as Antonio dell'Argento. He painted frescoes in the Chiesa della Morte in Ferrara.
His altarpiece ...
, p39
*
Ercole Grandi
Ercole Grandi (–before 1 November 1525) was an Italian painter of the early-Renaissance period, active mainly in Ferrara. Also known as Ercole da Ferrara and Ercole di Giulio Cesare Grandi, he has been claimed to be a favourite pupil of the pain ...
, p51
*
Ludovico Mazzolino
Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 – c. 1528) - also known as Mazzolini da Ferrara, Lodovico Ferraresa, and Il Ferrarese - was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna.
Biography
He was born and died in Ferrara. He appears to have ...
, p54
*
Michele Cortellini
Michele Coltellini (1480–1542) was an Italian painter, active mainly in Ferrara.
Biography
He was a follower of Panetti and Garofalo, who lived in the 16th century. He is the author of a 'Dead Christ on the lap of the Virgin' in the Dresden G ...
, p39
*
Ercole de' Roberti
Ercole de' Roberti (c. 1451 – 1496), also known as Ercole Ferrarese or Ercole da Ferrara, was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance and the School of Ferrara. He was profiled in Vasari's ''Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, sculto ...
*
Lorenzo Costa
Lorenzo Costa (1460 – 5 March 1535) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
Biography
He was born at Ferrara, but moved to Bologna by his early twenties, and was probably influenced by the Bolognese School. However, many artists worked i ...
, p57
*
Francesco
Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
People with the given name Francesco
* Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...
and Bernardino Zaganelli da Cotignola, p58
*
Benedetto Coda
Benedetto Coda (c. 1460 - 1535) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance active in Rimini. He is mainly known for his religious subjects.
Born in Treviso, Vasari claimed that Coda trained with Giovanni Bellini. He stayed for a brief period in F ...
, p59
*
Boccaccio Boccaccino
Boccaccio Boccaccino (c. 1467 – c. 1525) was a painter of the early Italian Renaissance, belonging to the Emilian school. He is profiled in Vasari's ''Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori'' (or, in English, '' ...
*
Domenico Panetti
Domenico Panetti (1460–1530) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: pr ...
, p61
*
Giovanni Battista Benvenuti
Ortolano was an Italian painter of the Ferrara School, active in the Renaissance period. Ticozzi cites his birth as ca. 1480.
Biography
He was born in Ferrara. He was baptized Giovanni Battista Benvenuti, and he was called L'Ortolano because h ...
(also called L'Ortolano Ferrarese) (1490–1525)
*
Taddeo Crivelli
Taddeo Crivelli ( fl. 1451, died by 1479), also known as Taddeo da Ferrara, was an Italian painter of illuminated manuscripts. He is considered one of the foremost 15th-century illuminators of the Ferrara school, and also has the distinction ...
16th century
*
Nicolo Pisano
*
Dosso Dossi
Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542), was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early T ...
, p62
*
Giovanni Battista Dossi Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...
*
Girolamo da Carpi
Girolamo Da Carpi (1501 – 1 August 1556) was an Italian painter and decorator who worked at the Court of the House of Este in Ferrara. He began painting in Ferrara, by report apprenticing to Benvenuto Tisi (il Garofalo); but by age 20, he had ...
, p105
*
Niccolò Roselli, p109
*
Benvenuto Tisi
Benvenuto Tisi (or Il Garofalo) (1481September 6, 1559) was a Late-Renaissance-Mannerist Italian painter of the School of Ferrara. Garofalo's career began attached to the court of the Duke d'Este. His early works have been described as "idyllic ...
(il Garofalo), p73
*
Ludovico Mazzolino
Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 – c. 1528) - also known as Mazzolini da Ferrara, Lodovico Ferraresa, and Il Ferrarese - was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna.
Biography
He was born and died in Ferrara. He appears to have ...
*Sigismondo Scarsella, p124
*
Scarsellino
Scarsellino or Ippolito Scarsella (1550 (or 1551) – 28 October 1620) was an Italian mid-to-late sixteenth century reformist painter and one of the most important representatives of the School of Ferrara. His landscapes of both sacred and secu ...
(Ippolito Scarsella), p125
*
Costanzo Cattanio
*
Giovanni Francesco Surchi
*
Camillo Ricci, p135
*
Domenico Mona
Domenico Mona (also called ''Moni'', ''Monna'', or ''Monio'') (1550–1602) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, born in Ferrara.
Biography
His biographer Cesare Cittadella (1782) describes a stormy early manhood, wherein Mona, ...
, p121
*
Sebastiano Filippi (Bastianino)
*
Gaspare Venturini, p137
*
Giovanni Andrea Ghirardoni, p138
*
Giovanni Paolo Grazzini Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
, p138
*
Jacopo Bambini
Jacopo Bambini (1582–1629) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Ferrara.
He trained with Domenico Mona
Domenico Mona (also called ''Moni'', ''Monna'', or ''Monio'') (1550–1602) was an Italian painter of the lat ...
, p139
*
Giulio Cromer, p140
17th–18th centuries
*
Carlo Bononi
Carlo Bononi (1569? - 1632) was an Italian painter.
From an 1876 book:
'' Giulio Cromer, Carlo Bononi a pupil of Bastaruolo, and Alfonso Rivarola or Chenda, were the last artists of any eminence in Ferrara.'' Page 175
Biography
Born and act ...
(also active in Bologna and Mantua), p141
*
Alfonso Rivarola
Alfonso Rivarola (1590 – January 8, 1640) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Ferrara, where he was born. He is also known as ''il Chenda'' because of an inheritance he received from someone with that name.
From a ...
, p153
*Giovanni Battista della Torre, p154
*
Camillo Berlinghieri
Camillo Berlinghieri (1590 or 1605 Ticozzi – 1635) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Ferrara. He trained with Carlo Bononi. Among his paintings was a ''Gathering of the Manna'' in San Niccolo; and an ''Annunciation'' for Sant ...
, p155
*
Ippolito Caselli, p155
*
Francesco Naselli
Francesco Naselli was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.
Biography
He was born at Ferrara, and flourished about the year 1610. When young, he studied the works of the Carracci and Guercino, which he copied with surprising success, but a ...
, p156
*
Ercole Sarti
Ercole Sarti (December 23, 1593 – ?) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Ferrara.
Also called ''il muto da Ficarola'' (the mute of Ficarolo), due to his defect (likely congenital deaf-mutism) and hometown of Ficarolo, ...
, p157
*
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia-Romagna, Emilia region, who was active in Rome and ...
(Guercino) born in
Cento
The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turk ...
, p159
*Paolo Antonio Barbieri, p168
*
Benedetto Genari the elder
Benedetto is a common Italian name, the equivalent of the English name Benedict. Notable people named Benedetto include:
People with the given name
* Benedetto Accolti (disambiguation), several people
* Benedetto Aloi (1935–2011), American mob ...
, p158
*Cesare Genari, p170
*
Giuseppe Caletti, p170
*
Ludovico Lana
Ludovico Lana (c. 1597–1646) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Modena, where he died in 1646. He is also known as ''Lodovico Lana''. He was the director of the Accademia Ducale of Modena. He is said to have been bo ...
, p172
*
Francesco Costanzo Cattaneo
Francesco Costanzo Catanio, (1602 – July 3, 1665) was a painter of the Italian Baroque period, born and mainly active in Ferrara. He was variously known as Catanio, Cattani, Cattaneo, or Cattanio, sometimes without the forename Francesco.
...
, p172
*
Giuseppe Bonati
Giuseppe Bonati (1635 – 12 March 1681) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Rome and Ferrara.
He is also known as ''Giovannino del Pio'' or ''Giovanni Bonatti''. He initially trained as a pupil of Francesco Costanzo Cattane ...
, p173
*
Giuseppe Avanzi
Giuseppe Avanzi (August 30, 1645 – May 29, 1718) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrar ...
, p175
*Orazio and Cesare Mornasi, p175
*Francesco and Antonio Ferrari, p176
*
Francesco Scala
Francesco, the Italian language, Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis (given name), Francis", is the List of most popular given names, most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
Pe ...
, p177
*
Maurelio Scanavini, p178
*
Giacomo Parolini
Giacomo Parolini (May 1, 1663 – 1733) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Ferrara.
He initially traveled with Giovanni Francesco Viterbi to Turin to study law, but then went to study painting in Turin with Peruzzi ...
, p179
*
Giuseppe Zola
Giuseppe Zola (5 March 1672 – 27 March 1743) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Ferrara.
He mainly painted landscapes with small figures. Born in Brescia, where he studied with Giuseppe Tortelli. His sister was als ...
, p181
*
Giovanni Francesco Braccioli
Giovanni Francesco Braccioli (1697 – 16 July 1762) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Ferrara.
Born in Ferrara, he first trained with Giacomo Parolini, and then with Giuseppe Maria Crespi in Bologna
Bologna ( ...
, p182
*
Antonio Contri, p183
*
Giuseppe Ghedini
Giuseppe Antonio Ghedini (1707 – 5 June 1791) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Ferrara.
Biography
Born in Ficarolo in the province of Rovigo. He trained with Giacomo Parolini. He became professor of painting at th ...
, p183
*
Giovanni Monti, p184
*
Alberto Muchiatti, p184
*
Giuseppe Santi
Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph,
from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.
It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it.
The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...
, p184
*
Giovanni Masi, p185
See also
*
Lucchese School
The Lucchese School, also known as the School of Lucca and as the Pisan-Lucchese School, was a school of painting and sculpture that flourished in the 11th and 12th centuries in Pisa and Lucca in Tuscany with affinities to painters in Volterra. ...
*
Florentine School
Florentine painting or the Florentine School refers to artists in, from, or influenced by the naturalistic style developed in Florence in the 14th century, largely through the efforts of Giotto di Bondone, and in the 15th century the leading scho ...
*
Sienese School
References
*
*
*
External links
''Dosso Dossi: Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara'' a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
* Census of Ferrarese Paintings and Drawing
''Italian Paintings: North Italian School'' a collection catalog containing information on a variety of Ferrara artists.
{{authority control
Italian art movements, Ferrara
Painters from Ferrara
People from the Province of Ferrara