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Romanino

Brescia, about 1484 - after 1562

BiographyROMANINO, Girolamo
pseudonym of Girolamo Romani, or di Romano, or Rumani, also known as Girolamo Brescia or Hieronymus de Brescia

Italian, 16th century, male.
Born between 1484 and 1487, in Brescia; died c. 1562.
Painter, fresco artist, draughtsman. Religious subjects, portraits.
Lombard School.

It is thought that Romanino was at first the pupil of Stefano Rizzi. He was part of the Brescia brotherhood of artists in 1510, when he painted a Pietà for the church of S Lorenzo. One of his earliest surviving works is an altarpiece for the church of S Francesco in Brescia, depicting Virgin, Infant Jesus, St Francis, St Antony and Four Other Saints, Kneeling, painted around 1512. In the same year he went to Padova and painted an altarpiece, Virgin, Infant Jesus, St Benedict, St Justine, St Monica and St Prosdochimus, for the Benedictine monastery, S Giustina. He also produced Last Supper for the monks' refectory.

Having visited Cremona, in 1517 he was in Brescia again, where Moretto was established as a painter. The two artists worked together to produce decorations for Corpus Christi in the church of S Giovanni, in 1521, and Romanino painted three frescoes and two paintings there. Between 1519 and 1520, he also painted four important frescoes depicting Passion of Christ, in Cremona. He produced frescoes on the Life of St Dominic for the Dominican convent in Brescia, and also decorated the town hall and the church of S Salvator. He then went to Malpagar castle, where he painted a fresco, Bartolommeo Colleoni Receiving the Command of the Crusaders, in the Presence of the Pope and Cardinals. In 1534 he painted a series of frescoes in the church of the Madonna near Pisogne. The prolific artist also went to Visso, where he painted frescoes of scenes from the Life of the Virgin, and he also produced a series of frescoes for the church of S Antonio in Breno. In 1540, on the orders of Cardinal Madruzzo, he produced various frescoes for Trento castle. In the same year, he produced four scenes from the Life of St George in the church of S Giorgio in Verona.

Around 1541, he was again in Brescia, and painted the organ in the cathedral. Finally, he painted what is believed to have been his last work, Sermon on the Mount, for the Benedictines in Modena.

A certain romanticism and a liking for pathos became evident in Romanino's works, which at first were influenced by Titian and Giorgione. He produced astonishing effects of light, such as in St Matthew with the Angel, depicted in candlelight.
Museum and Gallery Holdings
Bergamo (Accademia Carrara): Adoration of the Shepherds; Virgin and Infant Jesus; Portrait of a Man; Samson Asleep; Legate Morelli
Berlin: Christ Lamented; Virgin, Infant Jesus and Two Saints; St John the Baptist Beheaded; Judith; Portrait of a Man
Brescia: Supper at Emmaus; Christ at the House of Simon; Christ Carrying His Cross; Two Portraits; Coronation of the Virgin Mary; Nativity; Lamentation of Christ; St Paul between Four Saints; St Dominic; Samson and Delilah
Budapest: Portrait of a Man
Florence (Uffizi): Self-portrait
Hanover: Ecce Homo
Innsbruck: Pietà
Kassel: The Apostle Peter; The Apostle Paul
London (NG): The Nativity with Sts Alessandro of Brescia, Jerome, Gaudioso and Filippo Benizzi (1524-1525, tempera/wood, master altar from S. Alessandro in Brescia); Portrait of a Man (c. 1528-1529, oil/wood, former attribution, attributed to Calisto Piazza); Pegasus and the Muses (c. 1546, oil/wood, theme of 'Metamorphosis' of Ovide)
Milan (Crespi Collection): Christ Carrying His Cross
Milan (Pinacoteca di Brera): Virgin and Jesus; Portrait of a Man; Child Jesus in the Temple
Padua: Birth of Adonis; Legend of Erysichthon; Madonna with Saints and Musician Angel
Richmond: Madonna; Madonna with Saints
Rome (Gal. dell'Accademia Nazionale di S Luca): Madonna
Rome (Palazzo Doria Pamphili): Small Angel with Cymbal (doubtful attribution); Madonna
St Petersburg (Hermitage): Virgin and Infant Jesus
Trento: Madonna with Saints
Venice: Madonna
Vienna: Portrait of a Woman (maybe Laura)
Grove Art online, accessed 1/23/2015

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

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