Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 1471 – 11 January 1546) was an Italian painter and

sculptor 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 sc ...

of 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 ...

Biography

Gaudenzio was born to Franchino Ferrari at

Valduggia Valduggia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Vercelli. Valduggia borders the following municipalities: Boca, Borgosesia, Cellio con ...

in the

Valsesia Valsesia ( pms, Valsesia; Walser German: ''Tseschrutol''; it, Valle della Sesia) is a group of valleys in the north-east of Piedmont in the Province of Vercelli, Italy; the principal valley is that of the river Sesia. The major towns located h ...

in the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

. Valduggia is now in the

Province of Vercelli A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. He is said to have first learned the art of painting at

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

from

Gerolamo Giovenone Gerolamo Giovenone (1486/1487 – 1555), also spelled ''Girolamo'', was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance period, active mainly in Milan. He was born in Vercelli. He was the teacher of the painter Gaudenzio Ferrari and possibly als ...

. He subsequently studied in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, in the school of the Cathedral artisan Giovanni Stefano Scotti, and perhaps alongside

Bernardino Luini Bernardino Luini (c. 1480/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as having ...

. Circa 1504 he proceeded to

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 ...

. It was once thought that he later moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He died in Milan. Gaudenzio was not related to

Defendente Ferrari Defendente Ferrari (c. 1480/1485 – c. 1540) was an Italian painter active in Piedmont. His work marks the transition from late Gothic traditions to Renaissance art in the region. Life and work Ferrari was born at Chivasso, near Turin. ...

(c.1490–1535) a painter from

Chivasso Chivasso (; pms, Civass) is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. Chivasso has a population of about 27,000. It is situated on the left bank of the Po river, near the inf ...

, nor to Eusebio Ferrari (1508–1533) the painter from Vercelli.

Mature work

His initial pictorial style may be considered as derived mainly from the old Milanese school, which had imbibed the classic influence of

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...

and pupils such as

Bramantino Bartolomeo Suardi, best known as Bramantino ( – ), was an Italian painter and architect, mainly active in his native Milan. Biography He was born in Milan, the son of Alberto Suardi, but his biography remains unclear, and was long complicated ...

. However, the provincial impetus was also strong, as is demonstrated in his emotive work at the

Sacro Monte of Varallo Giovanni d' Enrico, ''Ecce Homo ''(detail of the crowd calling for crucifixion), 1608-9. The Sacred Mountain of Varallo ( it, Sacro Monte di Varallo) is a '' Sacro Monte'' ("sacred mountain", a type of mountainside Christian devotional comple ...

. By 1513, Gaudenzio had depicted the life of Christ in a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

at Santa Maria delle Grazie in

Varallo Sesia Varallo Sesia (Piedmontese: ''Varal''), pronouciation (Vhuh-rahl-loh) commonly known as Varallo, is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Vercelli in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is situated in Valsesia, at above sea level and some north- ...

. He returned to work in the chapels of the

Sacro Monte di Varallo Giovanni d' Enrico, ''Ecce Homo ''(detail of the crowd calling for crucifixion), 1608-9. The Sacred Mountain of Varallo ( it, Sacro Monte di Varallo) is a '' Sacro Monte'' ("sacred mountain", a type of mountainside Christian devotional comple ...

by 1524. The chapels are dispersed over a hilltop sanctuary, connected by a winding path, and containing a combination of ''diorama and wax museum'' with life-size terracotta figures. He executed his most memorable work, a fresco of the Crucifixion (pictured right), with a multitude of figures, no less than twenty-six of them being modelled in actual relief, and colored; on the vaulted ceiling are lamenting angels. The figures include goitrous bestial assailants. There are other works which show flashes of innovation such as the crowded chorus decorating duomo of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in

Saronno Saronno (; lmo, Saronn ) is a ''comune'' of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Varese. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1960. With an estimated population of 39,351 inhabitants, it is the most densely populated ...

or his fresco of ''St Anne''.St Anne Consoled by a Woman by FERRARI, Gaudenzio
/ref> This painting shows the overlap of Milanese realism and Venetian colorism. He was a very prolific painter, distinguished by strong animation. In general character, his work suggests more the 15th than the 16th century. His subjects were always religious.

Andrea Solario Andrea Solari (also Solario) (1460–1524) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Milanese school. He was initially named ''Andre del Gobbo'', but more confusingly as ''Andrea del Bartolo'' a name shared with two other Italian painters, ...

, Giovanni Battista Cerva,

Gian Paolo Lomazzo Gian Paolo Lomazzo (26 April 1538 – 27 January 1592; his first name is sometimes also given as "Giovan" or "Giovanni") was an Italian artist and writer on art. Praised as a painter, Lomazzo wrote about artistic practice and art theory after ...

, and Fermo Stella were his principle students.

Selected works

*'' Sant'Anna Altarpiece'' (

Galleria Sabauda The Galleria Sabauda is an art collection in the Italian city of Turin, which contains the royal art collections amassed by the House of Savoy over the centuries. It is located on Via XX Settembre, 86. The museum, whose first directors were Rober ...

and

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

) *''Pietà'', in the

Royal Gallery The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

*''St Catharine Miraculously Saved from the Torture of the Wheel'',

Brera Gallery The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

, Milan *Frescoes in church of Santa Maria della Pace, Milan. *''Virgin with Angels and Saints under an Orange Tree'', Cathedral,

*''Last Supper'', Refectory of San Paolo *''Birth of the Virgin'', ''Annunciation'', ''Visitation'', ''Adoration of the Shepherds and Kings'', ''Crucifixion'', ''Assumption of the Virgin'' (1532–1535), Church of San Cristoforo *''St Paul Meditating'', Louvre, Paris *''Presentation in the Temple'', ''Christ among the Doctors'', ''History of Christ'' (1507), Convent of the Minorites, Varallo. *''Adoration'' (after 1527), Santa Maria di Loreto, near Varallo *''Glory of Angels'' (1535), Dome of the Santa Maria dei Miracoli,

*''Scourging of Christ'', ''Ecce Homo'' and ''Crucifixion'' (1542), Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Notes

References

* *

External links

HALTADEFINIZIONE by HAL9000 S.r.l. – High Resolution Photos
an 8.6GP Scan of the Parete Gaudenziana that was the largest digital photo in the world when it was produced

at www.wga.hu, Web Gallery of Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrari, Gaudenzio 1470s births 1546 deaths People from Valduggia 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters Painters from Milan 15th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 16th-century Italian sculptors Catholic sculptors