Moretto da Brescia

Alessandro Bonvicino (also Buonvicino) (c. 1498 – possibly 22 December 1554), more commonly known as Moretto, or in Italian Il Moretto da Brescia (the Moor of Brescia), was an Italian Renaissance painter from Brescia, where he also mostly worked. His dated works span the period from 1524 to 1554, but he was already described as a master in 1516. He was mainly a painter of altarpieces that tend towards sedateness, mostly for churches in and around Brescia, but also in Bergamo, Milan, Verona, and Asola; many remain in the churches they were painted for. The majority of these are on canvas, but a considerable number, including some large pieces, are created on wood panels. There are only a few surviving drawings from the artist. He also painted a few portraits, but these are more influential. A full-length Portrait of a Man in the National Gallery, London, dated 1526, seems to be the earliest Italian independent portrait at full length, all the more unexpected as the subject, though clearly a wealthy nobleman, shows no sign of being from a princely ruling family. This format, and the background of an exterior largely closed off by a column the man leans on, was taken up by his main assistant Giovanni Battista Moroni, who painted mainly portraits and was one of the most important portraitists of the mid-16th century. He was a prominent and pious citizen of the small city of Brescia, belonging to at least two of the most prominent confraternities.