BONSIGNORI, Francesco - b. 1455 Verona, d. 1519 Caldiero - WGA

BONSIGNORI, Francesco

(b. 1455 Verona, d. 1519 Caldiero)

Italian painter. His father, Albertus Bonsignori, was reputedly an amateur painter; and besides Francesco, the oldest and most talented of his children, three other sons, including Bernardino (c. 1476-c. 1520) and Girolamo (b. c. 1479), are also recorded as painters. Barely 20 paintings and fewer than a dozen drawings have been attributed to Francesco Bonsignori. Documents from his time at the Gonzaga court in Mantua and Vasari’s account of his life are the main sources for information on the artist.

In Verona, he was under the influence or a pupil of Liberale da Verona. In 1487, he went to Mantua, where he was largely patronized by the Marchese Francesco Gonzaga and was influenced by Mantegna. He excelled in painting animals. In the Brera at Milan is his St Louis and in the refectory of the church of the Franciscans at Mantua are some perspective views. His last production was The Vision of Christ to the nun Ozanna, dated 1519, and now in the Academy at Mantua.

Portrait of a Man

This black chalk drawing is directly related to Bonsignori’s portrait of Giovanni Cappello. Contemporary documents mention two kinds of drawings that were part of Bonsignori’s portraiture practice. One type of drawing was part of the artists’s process, while another type was represented by drawings made after painted portraits. Examples of the latter type were kept in the workshop at least until the middle of the following century by Bonsignori’s heir. The present drawing might be one of such work.

The drawing is more vigorous than the painting and this led to the suggestion by some critics that the drawing was created by Mantegna for Bonsignori’s use. However, the drawing is generally believed to be by Bonsignori himself.

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Portrait of an Elderly Man

The sitter for this portrait was identified as a member of the patrician Cappello family of Venice, more specifically Giovanni Cappello (d. 1499), a senator and procurator of San Marco from 1466.

The gray-haired patrician is depicted wearing a scarlet gown lined with a fur at the neck, a black stole over his shoulders, and a black cap. The artist successfully juggled the formal elements of portraiture current among his innovative contemporaries working in northern Italy, such as the beautifully described parapet, with its illusionistic cartellino, the forceful projection of the figure against the dark, neutral background, and the volumetric three-quarter view.

There is a black chalk drawing in Vienna, directly related to this portrait. It is more vigorous than the painting and this led to the suggestion by some critics that the drawing was created by Mantegna for Bonsignori’s use. However, the drawing is generally believed to be by Bonsignori himself.

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Virgin with Child

The Veronese artist Francesco Bonssignori was best known to his contemporaries as a portraitist and court artist to the Gonzaga family. He was trained under Liberale whose painting style he retained even after arrving in Mantua about 1477, where he also received ideas from Mantegna. He worked for Francesco II Gonzaga.

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