Lattanzio Gambara (c. 1530 – 18 March 1574) was an Italian painter, active in
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 ...
and
Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
styles. It is likely that Gambara is the same 16th century painter referred to as ''Lattanzio Cremonese'' or ''Lattanzio da Cremona''.
Biography
Born in
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
, Gambara initially apprenticed, aged fifteen, with
Giulio Campi
Giulio Campi (1502 – 5 March 1572) was an Italian painter and architect. His brothers Vincenzo Campi and Antonio Campi were also renowned painters.
Biography
The eldest of a family prominent painters, Campi was born at Cremona. His father Ga ...
in
Cremona
Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...
. By 1549 he was working alongside
Girolamo Romanino
Girolamo Romani, known as Romanino (c. 1485 - c. 1566), was an Italian High Renaissance painter active in the Veneto and Lombardy, near Brescia. His long career brought forth several different styles.
Biography
Romani was born in Brescia. H ...
, who became his father-in-law. Gambara's work also shows the influence of
il Pordenone
Pordenone, Il Pordenone in Italian, is the byname of Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis (c. 1484 – 14 January 1539), an Italian Mannerist painter, loosely of the Venetian school. Vasari, his main biographer, wrongly identifies him as Giovann ...
. An altarpiece of S. Maria in Silva dates to 1558. He painted frescoes in the Villa Contarini in
Asolo
Asolo () is a town and ''comune'' in the Veneto Region of northern Italy. It is known as "The Pearl of the province of Treviso", and also as "The City of a Hundred Horizons" for its mountain settings.
History
The town was originally a settlemen ...
. Another fresco cycle on the ''History of the Apocalypse'' decorated the Loggia of
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
, until it was destroyed by bombing in 1944.
In his maturity the artist returned to Brescia to work with Romanino in a series of generally lost frescoes for Sant'Eufemia and Saint Lorenzo in Brescia. He painted altarpieces, all but one of them now lost, for the
abbey of Saint Benedict in Polirone, and also decorated Palazzo Mayo in Cadignano (
Lama Mocogno
Lama Mocogno ( Frignanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southwest of Bologna and about southwest of Modena. The Monte Cimone is located nearby.
Lama Mocogno borde ...
, in collaboration with Giulio and
Antonio Campi). In 1565 he worked briefly in Venice. He painted a ''Nativity'' for the church of ''San Faustino'' in Brescia.
Brescia commune homepage
/ref>
In 1566, Gambara completed the fresco cycle in the parish church of S. Stefano in Vimercate
Vimercate (; lmo, label=Brianzöö, Vimercaa ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Monza and Brianza, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is from Milan and from Monza.
Its name (whose first finding dates back to the year 745) derives from t ...
, with ''Scenes from the life of the saint'' in the inferior part of the apse and ''God the Father, Christ, Virgin and angels'' in the half-dome. In 1567–73, he completed his masterpiece, the frescoes in the nave of the Cathedral of Parma
Parma Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Parma; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Parma, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Parma. I ...
, in collaboration with Bernardino Gatti
Bernardino Gatti (c.1495 – 22 February 1576) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma and Cremona. He is also commonly called il Sojaro.
He was born in or near Pavia or Cremona. His early apprenticeship is unclear, ...
.
During his last years, after the decoration of the drum of the cupola of Santa Maria of the Steccata in Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
, Gambara executed various other frescoes for palaces in Brescia and Parma, including a ''Deposition'' (1568) for the church of ''San Pietro al Po'' in Cremona
Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...
. He died, from falling off a scaffold, while painting the frescoes of the cupola of S. Lorenzo in Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
.
One of his pupils was Giovita Brescianino.
Notes and references
External links
Gambara biography on artcyclopedia.
Getty biography.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gambara, Lattanzio
1530s births
1574 deaths
16th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
Painters from Brescia
Painters from Cremona
Italian Mannerist painters
Accidental deaths from falls
Accidental deaths in Italy
Fresco painters