Boccaccio Boccaccino

The Italian archeologist, Luigi Lanzi (1732 – 1810) once said Boccaccio Boccaccino was the best modern (painter) among the ancients and the best ancient among the moderns. An artist of the Emilian school of painting, Boccaccino worked mostly in the city of Cremona in Lombardy, but also in Venice and Ferrara. Among those influenced by the great artist Andrea Mantegna (1431 – 1506), Boccaccino studied in Ferrara with contemporaries such as Domenico Panetti (1460 – 1530).

His work has often been said to resemble the style of Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino (1446 – 1524), leader of the Umbrian School of painting. In fact, works once thought to be that of Perugino, as well as his assistant Pinturicchio (1452 – 1513), have now been identified as the work of Boccaccino. Such comparison to Perugino is seen Boccaccino’s works, Marriage of the Virgin or Madonna with Saint Vincent and Saint Anthony. These works were created in Cremona, among his acclaimed frescos of the Virgin Mary, including Birth of the Virgin, for the Duomo di Cremona.

He also painted pieces for the Church of San Giuliano, Virgin and Child with Four Saints, and also San Quirilo, Virgin and Two Saints. In the Accademia Art Gallery in Venice is his Marriage of Saint Catherine and hanging in the Louvre is his piece, Holy Family. There is also his piece from 1516, Gipsy Girl, which is in the Uffizi Gallery. Boccaccino established a workshop in Cremona and some of his accomplished pupils were Benvenuto Tisi, called Il Garofalo (1481 – 1559), as well as his son Camillo Boccaccino (1504 – 1546). There is also work once thought to be Garofalo’s that is now rightfully attributed to Boccaccino.