SOGLIANI, Giovanni Antonio

Italian painter. He trained with Lorenzo di Credi, to whom he remained closely attached; he is recorded as an executor of Lorenzo’s will in 1531. After collaborating on works in the style of Lorenzo, from 1515 he had an independent shop and began to develop his own style. In the St Martin for Orsanmichele in Florence, for example, he complemented his master’s manner with a sfumato reflecting contemporary Florentine painting. The attribution of another work of this period, the Last Supper in the convent of S Maria di Candeli, Florence, has been disputed, but it is certainly characteristic of Sogliani. The remarkable altarpiece of the Martyrdom of St Acazio (Florence, S Lorenzo) of 1521 reflects the work of Andrea del Sarto. Vasari recorded that Sogliani was a follower of Fra Bartolommeo, and this is confirmed by the style of the monumental figures in such works as St Bridget Imposing the Rule (1522) and the Trinity with SS James, Mary Magdalene and Catherine (both Florence, Museo S Salvi), as well as the Allegory of the Immaculate Conception (Florence, Accademia) and the altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with SS Jerome and Anselm for S Maria at Ripa, near Empoli.

From 1528 Sogliani executed paintings for Pisa Cathedral (all in situ), including the Sacrifice of Abel, the Sacrifice of Cain (both 1533), and an altarpiece of the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints (1539-41; initially commissioned from Perino del Vaga). He also completed the Virgin and Child with Saints (1536) that was left unfinished by del Sarto. In 1531, for S Maria delle Grazie, Anghiari, he executed the paintings (in situ) of Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples and the Last Supper, a variation on del Sarto’s work in S Salvi, Florence. The Supper of St Dominic, a large fresco in the refectory of S Marco in Florence, was painted in 1536.