Italian painter
Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis
(c. 1455 – c. 1508) was an
Italian Renaissance painter
, illuminator and designer of coins active in
Milan
. Ambrogio gained a reputation as a portraitist, including as a painter of
miniatures
, at the court of
Ludovico Sforza
.
[1]
Life
[
edit
]
Ambrogio de Predis was born in a family of artists from
Lombardy
.
[1]
His brothers and half-brothers including Evangelista, Bernardino and Cristoforo were also painters.
Little is known about his training. He initially worked as an illuminator in collaboration with his half-brother Cristoforo. He produced seven miniatures for a
Book of Hours
in 1472 (the work no longer exists) and again for a Book of Hours in 1474. He then worked on designs for the local mint in Milan along with his brother Bernardino. He subsequently worked for the court of the Sforzas for a number of years, mainly as a portrait painter. It is during this time that he offered hospitality to
Leonardo da Vinci
when he arrived in Milan.
[2]
A marriage was arranged between
Emperor Maximilian I
and
Bianca Maria Sforza
, niece of
Ludovico il Moro
, but before the former would commit to the arrangement, he requested a portrait of his proposed bride. The portrait of Bianca Maria was painted by Ambrogio, who followed her to
Innsbruck
after the wedding in 1493, and there he worked for several years in the lady's service before returning to Milan, where he designed coins for the mint, designed and supervised
tapestry
works, and prepared stage scenery. In 1502 he produced his only surviving signed and dated work, a portrait of the Emperor Maximilian. Much of Ambrogio de Predis's artistic output remains in dispute.
Work
[
edit
]
He and his brother Evangelista are known to have collaborated with
Leonardo da Vinci
on the painting of the
Virgin of the Rocks
for the altarpiece in the chapel of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception at the Church of San Francesco Grande, Milan. Leonardo painted the central panel with the Virgin of the Rocks (National Gallery, London), while the two brothers created the
side panels
.
The side panels for the
Virgin of the Rocks
, now in the
National Gallery, London
were stated by the brothers to have been painted by them during the legal dispute over the altarpiece, and this is accepted by art historians.
[3]
Cultural references
[
edit
]
In Canto XLV of
Ezra Pound
's
The Cantos
, Pound denounces
usury
and tells what usury contradicts and what can be accomplished without it by juxtaposing historical figures of the
humanist
movement and the
Renaissance
: "Came not by usura
Angelico
; came not Ambrogio Praedis, came no church of cut stone signed: Adamo me fecit."
- Paintings by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis
-
Portrait of a Lady (sitter's identity not established, possibly
Beatrice d'Este
)
-
Empress Bianca Maria (1493)
-
The Archinto Portrait (National Gallery, London), 1494
-
Angel playing lute
-
Alleged portrait of Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza as Saint Sebastian
-
Portrait of a Young Man, circa 1500
-
Emperor Maximilian I (1502)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis
at the National Gallery of Art
- ^
Enrica Banti. "Predis, de." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 16 May. 2017
- ^
National Gallery Catalogues: Catalogue of the Earlier Italian Schools, Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues, London 1961, reprinted 1986,
ISBN
0-901791-29-6
See also
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]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis
at Wikimedia Commons
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Major works
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Lost works
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Sculptures
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Works on paper
| Studies for the
Virgin of the Rocks
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Studies for the
Last Supper
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Studies for the Louvre
Saint Anne
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Manuscripts
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Other projects
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Leonardeschi
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Museums
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Related
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- ? Collaboration
- ?? Possible collaboration
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International
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National
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Artists
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People
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