Wikipedia

Bernardino de' Conti

Bernardino de 'Conti (di Conti or dei Conti) was an Italian Renaissance painter, born in 1465 in Castelseprio and died around 1525.

Portrait of Charles d'Amboise on display at the Seattle Art Museum.

He is said to have been born as the son of "master Baldassarre", an obscure painter. Reported to have died in 1525, but the exact year is unknown since little is known about his life past 1522.[1] A close apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci, he is best known for his oil portraits and to a lesser extent, religious renditions such as Madonna and Child.

Bernard Berenson argued that La Belle Ferronnière should be attributed to Bernardino de 'Conti, not Leonardo da Vinci.

Biography

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Probably born in Castelseprio, in the province of Varese, he moved to Milan in 1494. His first commissions came at an early age with records showing payment for works Magister Bernardin de Comittibus de Castroseprio, filius magistri Baldessaris, port of Cumane, Parochie S. Protaxi intus, pintor mediolanensis, and for an altarpiece representing the Virgin and Child, intended for the Church of San Pietro in Gessate in Milan.[2]

It's assumed that Bernardino moved to France in his early 30's. Between 1508 and 1522 he painted a series of oil portraits; many of them are now considered masterpieces. Through his work it is assumed that he temporarily lived-in, or was a frequent guest at Château d'Amboise, the home of Leonardo da Vinci (1516–1519). This is evidenced by the several portraits of Charles II d'Amboise, governor of Milan under Louis XII.[3] Through this connection he was commissioned to paint multiple portraits for the Trivulzio family, Francesco Sforza (Vatican Pinacoteca), of Sisto della Rovere (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin), among others.

In 1522, he completed a Madonna, exhibited for a long time in Potsdam, but destroyed in 1945. After this date, the documentation on Bernardino remains uncertain.

 
Portrait of an affluent woman. Rumored to be sitter for Leonardo da Vinci's La Belle Ferronnière and Lady with an Ermine.

List of artwork

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His works are most often paintings of devotion. He is also credited with the portrait of Charles II d'Amboise, lord of Chaumont, Meillant and Charenton – there is another version of it made by Andrea Solari, another apprentice of da Vinci.

Bernardo Di' Conti paintings.

An original version of de' Conti's 'Earl of Douglas' was owned by Henry VIII (Whitehall Palace no. 774[9]) and was listed among his art inventory. It is currently part of the Royal Family's art collection.[10]

His work has been featured in museums which include the New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET),[11] the British Museum,[12] Harvard Museum,[13] Seattle Museum of Art,[14] Brooklyn Museum,[15] and several others.

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Death

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The last documented artwork by Bernardino was "Virgin with the Child" in 1522. Historians have stated that he likely died in 1525.

References

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  1. ^ Garollo, Gottardo (1907). Ulrico Hoepli (ed.). Dizionario biografico universale. Editore Libraio della Real Casa, Milan. p. 571.
  2. ^ Passoni, Maria Cristina (January 2019). "Bernardino de Conti". In Il Rinascimento a Biella. Sebastiano Ferrero e I Suoi Figli, Catalogo della Mostra a Cura di M. Natale, Biella, Palazzo Ferrero-Palazzo la Marmora-Museo del Territorio Biellese, 19 Aprile-18 Agosto 2019, Biella-Milano.
  3. ^ "Portrait a lady from the Trivulzio family". artsy.com.
  4. ^ "Charles d'Amboise Portrait Painting". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  5. ^ "A painting from the Saint-Vic museum includes an exhibition in Le Havre". leberry.fr. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021.
  6. ^ Sothebys (2019). "BERNARDINO DE' CONTI | MADONNA AND CHILD". Sothebys Auction House.
  7. ^ "Conti Bernardino de' – Ritratto di gentiluomo di profilo". JSTOR.
  8. ^ "Bernardino di Conti – Gentleman of the Trivulzio Family". Detroit Institute of Art. dia.org.
  9. ^ "Royal Collection Trust, WS 24, No. 6". The Lost Collection of Charles I, Privy Gallery.
  10. ^ Royal Collection. "Bernardino de' Conti – Black Dudley Portrait Painting". lostcollection.rct.uk. Royal Museum of Art.
  11. ^ "Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  12. ^ British Museum. "Collections Online | British Museum".
  13. ^ Harvard. "Harvard Art Museums". harvardartmuseums.org. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Charles d'Amboise". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Brooklyn Museum". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Attributed to Bernardino de' Conti Pavia (c. 1523)". Sotheby's Auction 2007.

Attribution:

  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Dei Conti, Bernardino". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
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