Francesco Squarcione (''c.'' 1395 – after 1468) was an Italian artist from

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. His pupils included

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in orde ...

(with whom he had many legal battles),

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 ...

and

Carlo Crivelli Carlo Crivelli ( Venice, c. 1430 – Ascoli Piceno, c. 1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto, where he absorbed influences from the Vivar ...

. There are only two works signed by him: the ''

Madonna and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent i ...

'' (now in Berlin) and the

Lazara Altarpiece The Lazara Altarpiece (Italian - ''Polittico de Lazara'') is a 1449-1452 five-panel tempera on panel altarpiece by Francesco Squarcione, signed by the artist and now in the Musei Civici of Padua. It and his ''Madonna and Child'' are his only ...

(now in Padua).

Biography

Squarcione, whose original vocation was tailoring, appears to have had a remarkable enthusiasm for ancient art, and a faculty for acting. Squarcione was interested in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

; he travelled in Italy, and perhaps

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

, collecting antique statues, reliefs, vases, and other works of art, forming a collection of such works, making drawings from them himself, and throwing open his stores for others to study from. Based on this collection, he undertook works on commission for which his pupils no less than himself were made available. As many as 137 painters and pictorial students passed through his school, established in 1431 and which became famous all over Italy. 3 December 2016 Squarcione's favorite pupil was Mantegna. Squarcione taught Mantegna the

Latin language Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of ...

and instructed him to study fragments of Roman

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

. Squarcione's ''Polyptych of Lazarus'', originally in the Carmine church in Padua, is not on display in the Museo Civici di Padua at the former Eremitani monastery. Pupils or followers of Squarcione include Francesco Verla, Pietro Calzetta, and Andrea Bellunello.

References

1390s births 1468 deaths Painters from Padua 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian antiquarians {{Italy-painter-15thC-stub