SAN LEOCADIO, Paolo de

(b. ~1445 Reggio Emilia, d. ~1520 Valencia)

Italian painter. He worked in Spain, for much of the time in Valencia, and was considerably influenced by the Spanish taste for Netherlandish painting.

In the 1450s or 1460 he moved to Ferrara, where he was influenced by local painters such as Bono da Ferrara and Ercole de’ Roberti. In 1472 he sailed from Ostia to Valencia, as part of the entourage of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, the future pope Alexander VI.

He painted, in 1506, in cooperation with Francesco Pagano (active 1471-1506), the doors of the high altar of the cathedral of Valencia, with subjects from the Life of the Virgin. His other works include a Virgin of the Grace in the church of San Miguel at Enguera (province of Valencia), a St. Michael in the Diocesan Museum, Valencia, the Virgin of the Knight of Montesa in the Museo del Prado, Madrid and the Holy Conversation in the National Gallery, London.

Angels Playing Music

This ceiling painting above the altar in the Cathedral of Valencia was executed in collaboration with Francesco Pagano (active 1471-1489).

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Virgin and Child with Saints

This panel probably was part of a small altarpiece.

The Virgin and Child are seated at the entrance to a walled garden. On the right, St Catherine of Alexandria and, further off, the seated figure of St Agatha with another female saint. Through a distant archway St Joseph enters the garden.

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Virgin of the Knight of Montesa

Paolo de San Leocadio was an Italian painter who was one of the first introducing to Spain the style of the Italian Quattrocento. He was documented in Valencia between 1471 and 1481.

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