Alessandro Bonvicino (also Buonvicino) (possibly 22 December 1554), more commonly known as Moretto, or in Italian Il Moretto da Brescia (the Moor of Brescia), was an

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

painter from

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 ...

, where he also mostly worked. His dated works span the period from 1524 to 1554, but he was already described as a master in 1516. He was mainly a painter of altarpieces that tend towards sedateness, mostly for churches in and around Brescia, but also in Bergamo,

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 ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, and

Asola Asola may refer to the following : Places and jurisdictions * Asola, Lombardy, in the province of Mantua, northwestern Italy ** its collegiate cathedral Sant'Andrea was the 'see' of a single-parish Abbey nullius of Asola (1509-1818) * Asola (D ...

; many remain in the churches they were painted for. Most are on canvas, but a number even of large ones are on wood panel. Only a handful of drawings survive. He also painted a few portraits, but these are more influential. A full-length '' Portrait of a Man'' in the National Gallery, London, dated 1526, seems to be the earliest Italian independent portrait at full length, all the more unexpected as the subject, though clearly a wealthy nobleman, shows no sign of being from a princely ruling family. This format, and the background of an exterior largely closed off by a column the man leans on, was taken up by his main assistant

Giovanni Battista Moroni Giovanni Battista Moroni ( – 5 February 1579) was an Italian painter of the Late Renaissance period. He also is called Giambattista Moroni. Best known for his elegantly realistic portraits of the local nobility and clergy, he is conside ...

, who painted mainly portraits and was one of the most important portraitists of the mid-16th century. He was a prominent and pious citizen of the small city of Brescia, belonging to at least two of the most prominent

confraternities A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most ...

Biography

He was born at

Rovato Rovato (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, northern Italy. Neighbouring towns are Coccaglio, Erbusco and Cazzago San Martino. It is located in the Franciacorta hills, 11 km south of Lake Iseo and 18 km ...

, in Brescian territory, and studied first under Fioravante Ferramola. Others state he trained with Vincenzo Foppa. His brothers Pietro and Jacopo were also painters. He may have been apprenticed to

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and modelled his earlier portrait-painting on the Venetian style. On the other hand, the style also resembles that of

Giorgione Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quali ...

or late Bellini. He conceived a great enthusiasm for Raphael, though he never travelled 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 ...

; on the other hand, his classical serenity resembles that shown by

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 his followers in Lombardy 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 ...

. He may have consulted with his contemporary

Girolamo Savoldo Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, also called Girolamo da Brescia (c. 1480–1485 – after 1548), was an Italian High Renaissance painter active mostly in Venice, although he also worked in other cities in northern Italy. He is noted for his subtle use ...

. Moretto excelled more in sedate altarpieces than in narrative action, and more in oil painting than in fresco, although he painted fine frescoes depicting the idle daughters of Count Martinengo in one of the palaces near Brescia. In 1521, he worked with Girolamo Romanino in the ''Cappella del Sacramento'' in the Old Cathedral of Brescia, where Moretto completed a ''Last Supper'', ''Elijah in the Desert'', and a ''Fall of Manna''. He was active during 1522–1524 in

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 ...

He painted alongside

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He painted mainly altarpieces, religiou ...

at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. In Brescia, he completed a ''Five Virgin Martyrs'' and his masterpiece, the ''Assumption of the Madonna'' for the church of

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway between ...

; a ''Coronation of the Madonna with four saints'' () for the church of Santi Nazaro e Celso; and a ''St Joseph'' for Santa Maria delle Grazie. Another work, with two small children depicted, is his canvas of ''St Nicholas of Bari presenting two children to Virgin'' (1539) originally painted for the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, but now in the

Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo The Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo is a public art museum in Brescia, Lombardy. Established in 1851, the museum exhibits mainly paintings by local artists dated from the Thirteenth through the Eighteenth century. The museum's current collection in ...

. He collaborated with Floriano Ferramola in the decoration of the dome of Brescia Cathedral. In the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna is a ''St Justina'' (once ascribed to

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 ...

); in the Staedel Museum, Frankfurt, the ''Madonna Enthroned between Sts. Anthony and Sebastian''; in the Berlin Museum, a colossal ''Adoration of the Shepherds'', and a large votive picture (one of the master's best) of the ''Madonna and Child'', with infant angels and other figures above the clouds, and below, amid a rich landscape, two priests; in the

National Gallery 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 ...

, Central London, is a ''St Bernardino and Other Saints''. Throughout his career his works display an internal oscillation between the traditions of the Venetian and Central Italian schools. Simultaneously he looked at the form and colour of Venetian artists such as

and

Palma the Elder Palma Vecchio (c. 1480 – 30 July 1528), born Jacopo Palma, also known as Jacopo Negretti, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He is called Palma Vecchio in English and Palma il Vecchio in Italian ("Palma the Elder") to di ...

whilst his classicising, sweet intensity earned him the name "

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

". Though there is some uncertainty regarding his studio, he took on a number of pupils, the most important of whom was the portraitist

. He also influenced

Callisto Piazza 280px, ''Beheading of the Baptist'', Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice Callisto Piazza (1500–1561) was an Italian painter. Biography Callisto, a member of the Piazza family of painters, was born in Lodi, Lombardy. In 1523 he was working in ...

. Il Moretto was stated to have been a man of great personal piety, preparing himself by prayer and fasting for any great act of sacred art, such as the painting of the Virgin-mother.

Public collections

Moretto is represented in the following collections: National Gallery, London;

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York; Hermitage, St. Petersburg; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Staedel Museum, Frankfurt;

Gallerie dell'Accademia The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It was originally the gallery o ...

, Venice;

, Brescia ('' Annunciation'');

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana A pinacotheca (Latin borrowing from grc, πινακοθήκη, pinakothēkē = grc, πίναξ, pinax, (painted) board, tablet, label=none + grc, θήκη, thēkē, box, chest, label=none) was a picture gallery in either ancient Greece or an ...

, Milan; National Gallery of Art, Washington;

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 l ...

, Paris; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford;

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest The Museum of Fine Arts ( hu, Szépművészeti Múzeum �seːpmyveːsɛti ˈmuːzɛum is a museum in Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hungary, facing the Palace of Art. It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an eclecti ...

, amongst others.

Further works

File:Moretto_da_brescia_cesaresco.jpg, '' Portrait of Fortunato Martinengo Cesaresco'', 1542, London, National Gallery File:Bonvicino - Holy Family.jpg, ''The Holy Family with Saint Anthony of Padua'', oil on panel. File:Portrait of Girolamo Savonarola 1524.jpg, Posthumous portrait of

Girolamo Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...

1524

Works

*'' Enthroned Madonna and Child with Saint James the Great and Saint Jerome'' (1517) *'' Christ with the Cross'' (1518) *'' The Dead Christ Adored by Saint Jerome and Saint Dorothy'' (1520–1521) *'' Holy Cross Standard'' (1520–1521) *'' Standard of Our Lady of Mercy'' (1520–1522) *''

Salvation Triptych The ''Salvation Triptych'' ( it, Trittico della Salvezza or ''Trittico della Salvazione'') is a triptych in oils on canvas by Moretto da Brescia, dating to 1521–1524 or 1527–28. All three of its panels are now in private collections, two in ...

'' (1521–1524 or 1527–1528) *'' Our Lady of Mount Carmel'' (c. 1522) *'' Assumption of the Virgin'' (1524–1526) *'' Orzinuovi Altarpiece'' (1525–1530) *'' Portrait of a Man'' (1526) *'' Lament over the Dead Christ'' (1526–1530) *'' Sant'Eufemia Altarpiece'' (1526–1530) *''

Supper at Emmaus According to the Gospel of Luke, the road to Emmaus appearance is one of the early post-resurrection appearances of Jesus after his crucifixion and the discovery of the empty tomb. Both the meeting on the road to Emmaus and the subsequent suppe ...

'' (c. 1526) *'' Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian'' (c. 1528) *'' Assumption Altarpiece'' (1529–1530) *'' St Anthony of Padua with Two Saints'' (1530) *'' St Antony the Abbot'' (1530–1534) *'' St Justina of Padua with a Donor'' (c. 1530) *'' Madonna and Child with Saint Martin and Saint Catherine'' (c. 1530) *'' Massacre of the Innocents'' (1531–1532) *'' Coronation of the Virgin Altarpiece'' (c. 1534) *'' The Deaf-Mute Filippo Viotti's Vision of the Virgin Mary'' (c. 1534) *'' Annunciation'' (1535–1540) *'' The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr'' (1535–1540) *'' Portrait of a Gentleman with a Letter'' (1535–1540) *''

Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista Organ Case ''Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista Organ Case'' is a set of four tempera on canvas paintings produced by Moretto da Brescia, ''c.'' 1535. The inner sides show stories from the life of John the Baptist and scenes from the life of John the Evange ...

'' (c. 1535) *'' Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints'' (1536–1537) *'' Rovelli Altarpiece'' (1539) *''

Adoration of the Shepherds with Saints Nazarius and Celsus ''Adoration of the Shepherds with Saints Nazarius and Celsus'' is a 1540 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia in the church of Santi Nazaro e Celso in Brescia. As its title suggests, it shows Nazarius and Celsus, patron saints of the chu ...

'' (1540) *'' Salomé'' (1540) *'' Madonna and Child with Saints'' (Verona, 1540) *'' Pralboino Altarpiece'' (1540–1545) *'' Christ in Glory with Saint Peter and Saint Paul'' (c. 1540) *'' Christ with the Eucharist and Saints Cosmas and Damian'' (c. 1540) *'' Madonna and Child with Four Doctors of the Church'' (c. 1540–1545) *'' Madonna and Child with Saints'' (London, c. 1540–1545) *'' Madonna and Child with an Angel'' (c. 1540–1550) *''

Christ with Moses and Solomon ''Christ with Moses and Solomon'' is a 1541-1542 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, displayed on the altar of the Most Holy Sacrament in the collegiate church of Santi Nazaro e Celso in Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, ...

'' (1541–1542) *'' Portrait of Fortunato Martinengo Cesaresco'' (1542) *'' Luzzago Altarpiece'' (1542) *''

Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine The mystical marriage of Saint Catherine (or "Mystic") covers two different subjects in Christian art arising from visions received by either Catherine of Alexandria or Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), in which these virgin saints went through a ...

'' (c. 1543) *'' Pentecost (1543–1544) *'' Madonna and Child with Four Saints'' (c. 1543) *'' Supper in the House of Simon the Pharisee'' (1544) *'' Portrait of an Ecclesiastic'' (c. 1545) *'' Christ with the Eucharist and Saints Bartholomew and Roch'' (c. 1545) *'' Christ and the Angel'' (c. 1550)

References

Sources