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Macrino d'Alba (c. 1460–1465 – c. 1510–1520) was an Italian painter of the
on the site of the Associazione Centro Studi di Letteratura, Storia, Arte e Cultura "Beppe Fenoglio" o.n.l.u.s.
Nothing is known about his artistic training in his native city and he may well have trained elsewhere. It is believed he was in Rome around 1490. Even so, the actual formation of Macrino was obtained from his study of Tuscan and Umbrian masters such as
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 id ...
period, active mainly in Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, who is known for his altarpieces and portraits. His birth name was ''Gian Giacomo de' Alladio''.
Life
The lack of documentary sources on Macrino who is believed to have been born in Alba has led in the past to many dubious attributions of works from the Piedmont area to this painter. A more thorough critique has allowed to lift some of the uncertainty about his biography. It is now known that he was in fact called Gian Giacomo de 'Alladio and was nicknamed 'Macrino' probably because of his slim and gaunt build. His ''Self-portrait'' (Torino, Museo Civico d'Arte Antica) does not throw much light on the question of his build. He was a descendant of a family with some social status in Alba.Macrino d'Alba
on the site of the Associazione Centro Studi di Letteratura, Storia, Arte e Cultura "Beppe Fenoglio" o.n.l.u.s.
Nothing is known about his artistic training in his native city and he may well have trained elsewhere. It is believed he was in Rome around 1490. Even so, the actual formation of Macrino was obtained from his study of Tuscan and Umbrian masters such as Luca Signorelli
Luca Signorelli ( – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the ''Last Judgment'' (1499†...
and Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
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who worked at the papal seat.
Work
Macrino was an eminently eclectic painter and an extraordinary assimilator of aesthetic trends that had developed in Rome and Tuscany and had given birth to the Italian Renaissance. His work shows in particular a stylistic affinity with that ofPinturicchio
Pinturicchio, or Pintoricchio (, ; born Bernardino di Betto; 1454–1513), also known as Benetto di Biagio or Sordicchio, was an Italian painter during the Renaissance. He acquired his nickname (meaning "little painter") because of his sma ...
, which has given rise to the hypothesis that Macrino frequented his workshop. There he must have learned the use of bright colors and the placing of his scenes among bold Renaissance architecture and landscapes rich in Roman ruins and "antiques". Also on the technical plan the use of hatching with a very lean tempera layer under a detailed design made by brush was probably learned from Pinturicchio.
He painted the ''Resurrection'' for the chapel of ''Sant’Ugone'' at the Certosa di Pavia. He also painted in the church of San Francesco at Alba and works in the Vigevano Cathedral. He achieved an artistic high-point in the altarpiece of the ''Virgin Enthroned between SS John the Baptist and James, a Bishop Saint and St Jerome'' (1503, Casale Monferrato, Santuario Crea). The composition is sober and dignified, full of light and colour.Riccardo Passoni. "Alba, Macrino d’." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 16 Mar. 2016
References
Further reading
* *’’Macrino de Alladio (Macrino d'Alba), G. B. Rossi. The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 1909 113-115.External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macrino dAlba 1460s births 16th-century deaths People from Alba, Piedmont 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters Italian Renaissance painters