Il Moretto da Brescia (1498-1554)
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Alessandro Bonvicino (also Buonvicino), more commonly known as Il Moretto da Brescia, was an Italian Renaissance painter of Brescia and Venice. He was born at Rovato, in Brescian territory, and studied first under Fioravante Ferramola. Others state he trained with Vincenzo Foppa. The 1911 Britannica claims he apprenticed with Titian in Venice and that Moretto modelled his earlier portrait-painting style on the Venetian style. On the other hand, the style also resembles that of Giorgione or late Bellini. The 1911 Britannica also states that he conceived a great enthusiasm for Raphael, though he never traveled to Rome; on the other hand, his classical serenity resembles that shown by Leonardo and his followers in Lombardy such as, for example, Bramantino. He may have consulted with his contemporary Girolamo Savoldo.
Moretto excelled more in sedate altarpieces than in narrative action, and more in oil-painting than in fresco, although fine frescoes depicting the lollygaging daughters of Count Martinengo in one of the palaces near Brescia. In 1521, he worked with Girolamo Romanino in the Cappella del Sacramento; where Moretto completed a Last Supper, Elijah in the Desert, and a Fall of Manna. He was active during 1522-24 in Padua.
He paints alongside with Lorenzo Lotto at Santa Maria Maggiore in Brescia. Also in Brescia, he completes a Five Virgin Martyrs and his masterpiece, the Assumption of the Madonna for the church of San Clemente; a Coronation of the Madonna with four saints (c. 1525) for the church of Santi Nazaro e Celso; a St. Joseph for Santa Maria della Grazie; and a St Nicholas of Ban for Santa Maria de Miracoli. He collaborated with Floriano Ferramola in the decoration of the dome of the cathedral in Brescia.
In the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna is a St Justina (once ascribed to Pordenone); in the Stadel Institute, Frankfort, 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, London, St Bernardin and other saints and two impressive portraits.
Il Moretto is 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. His dated works extend from 1524 to 1554, and he taught the portrait-painter Giambattista Moroni. He also influenced Callisto Piazza.
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