Bottigella Altarpiece

Foppa and Mantegna studied together in Padua and Foppa went on to become the first important Renaissance painter in Lombardy. Working in Milan still dominated by International Gothic, Foppa painted the frescoes in the Portinari Chapel in S. Eustorgio (1468). His panel paintings and altarpieces reveal his knowledge of perspective and a melancholy seen in the delicate use of chiaroscuro. Apart from his work in Milan, Foppa was active in Pavia and in Liguria and molded painting throughout north-western Lombardy. His style, influenced by Mantegna, combines grace and realism.