Lorenzo Costa (1460 – 5 March 1535) was an Italian painter 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 ide ...

Biography

He was born at

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. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

, but moved to

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 na ...

by his early twenties, and was probably influenced by the

Bolognese School The Bolognese School of painting, also known as the ''School of Bologna'', flourished between the 16th and 17th centuries in Bologna, which rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting in Italy. Its most important representatives i ...

. However, many artists worked in both cities, and thus some consider him a product of the School of Ferrara. It is possible that he trained with

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 ...

. In 1483 he painted the famous ''

Bentivoglio Altarpiece The ''Bentivoglio Altarpiece'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Costa the Elder, dating to August 1488. It is displayed in the Bentivoglio Chapel of the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna, Italy. It was commissione ...

'' and other frescoes on the walls of the Bentivoglio chapel in

San Giacomo Maggiore The Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore is an historic Roman Catholic church in Bologna, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy, serving a monastery of Augustinian friars. It was built starting in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, ...

. He was a great friend of

Francesco Francia __NOTOC__ Francesco Francia, whose real name was Francesco Raibolini (1447 – 5 January 1517) was an Italian painter, goldsmith, and medallist from Bologna, who was also director of the city mint.Levinson:492 He may have trained with Marco Zop ...

, who was much influenced by him. In 1509 he moved to

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

to become the court painter of Marquis Francesco Gonzaga and

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

. For the latter's studiolo in the

Ducal Palace Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Ducale'' ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke. Notable palaces with the name include: France *Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon * Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy * ...

, he painted the ''

Allegory of Isabella d'Este's Coronation The ''Allegory of Isabella d'Este's Coronation'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Costa the Elder, dating to about 1505–1506. It is displayed in the Louvre Museum of Paris, France. History The painting was the four ...

'' (now at the Louvre) and the '' Reign of Comus'', two mythological paintings based on Mantegna's drawings. He died at Mantua in 1535. His sons Ippolito and Girolamo were also painters, as was Girolamo's son, Lorenzo the Younger. Contemporaries who worked with or under him include

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 earl ...

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 ...

Lorenzo Leonbruno Lorenzo Leonbruno (10 March 1489 – 1537), also known as Lorenzo de Leombeni, was an Italian painter during the early Renaissance period. He was born in Mantua (Mantova), an Italian commune in Lombardy, Italy. Leonbruno is most well known for ...

, and

Niccolò Pisano Nicola Pisano (also called ''Niccolò Pisano'', ''Nicola de Apulia'' or ''Nicola Pisanus''; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the ...

References

;Attribution *

External links

Lorenzo Costa
at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Lorenzo 1460 births 1535 deaths 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters Italian Renaissance painters Painters from Bologna Painters from Ferrara