Cosimo Tura
Encyclopedia
Cosimo Tura also known as Il Cosmè or Cosmè Tura, was an Italian
early-Renaissance
(or Quattrocento
) painter and considered one of the founders of the School of Ferrara
.
Born in Ferrara
, he was a student of Francesco Squarcione
of Padua. Later he obtained patronage from both Dukes Borso
and Ercole I d'Este. By 1460, he was stipended by the Ferrarese Court. His pupils include Francesco del Cossa
and Francesco Bianchi. He appears influenced by Mantegna
's and Piero della Francesca
's quattrocento styles.
In Ferrara, he is well represented by frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia
(1469–71) http://www.eca.ferrara.it/en/palazzo_schifanoia.html. This pleasure palace, with facade and architecture of little note, belonged to the d'Este family and is located just outside the medieval town walls. Cosimo, along with Francesco del Cossa
, helped produce an intricately conceived allegorical series about the months of the year and zodiac symbols. The series contains contemporary portraits of musicians, laborers, and carnival floats in idyllic parades. As in Piero della Francesca's world, the unemotive figures mill in classical serenity.
He also painted the organ doors for the Duomo showing the Annunciation (1469). He collaborated in the painting of a series of "muses" for a studiolo of Leonello d'Este
, including the allegorical figure of Calliope at the National Gallery (see image). While the individual attributions are often debated, among the artists thought to complete the Angelo di Pietro da Sienna, also called Maccagino or Angelo Parrasio, and Michele Pannonio.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
early-Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
(or Quattrocento
Quattrocento
The cultural and artistic events of 15th century Italy are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento...
) painter and considered one of the founders of the School of Ferrara
School of Ferrara (painting)
The School of Ferrara was a group of painters which flourished in the Duchy of Ferrara during the Renaissance. Ferrara was ruled by the Este family, well known for its patronage of the arts. Patronage was extended with the ascent of Ercole d'Este I in 1470, and the family continued in power till...
.
Born in Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, he was a student of Francesco Squarcione
Francesco Squarcione
Francesco Squarcione was an Italian artist from Padua. His pupils included Andrea Mantegna , Cosimo Tura and Carlo Crivelli...
of Padua. Later he obtained patronage from both Dukes Borso
Borso d'Este
thumb|Borso d'Este, attributed to [[Vicino da Ferrara]], [[Pinacoteca]] of the [[Castello Sforzesco|Sforza Castle]] in [[Milan]], [[Italy]].Borso d'Este was the first Duke of Ferrara, which he ruled from 1450 until his death...
and Ercole I d'Este. By 1460, he was stipended by the Ferrarese Court. His pupils include Francesco del Cossa
Francesco del Cossa
Francesco del Cossa was an Italian early-Renaissance painter of the School of Ferrara.-Biography:...
and Francesco Bianchi. He appears influenced by Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son in law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g., by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality...
's and Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca was a painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its...
's quattrocento styles.
In Ferrara, he is well represented by frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia
Palazzo Schifanoia
Palazzo Schifanoia is a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna built for the Este family. The name "Schifanoia" is thought to originate from "schivar la noia" meaning literally to "escape from boredom" which describes accurately the original intention of the palazzo and the other villas...
(1469–71) http://www.eca.ferrara.it/en/palazzo_schifanoia.html. This pleasure palace, with facade and architecture of little note, belonged to the d'Este family and is located just outside the medieval town walls. Cosimo, along with Francesco del Cossa
Francesco del Cossa
Francesco del Cossa was an Italian early-Renaissance painter of the School of Ferrara.-Biography:...
, helped produce an intricately conceived allegorical series about the months of the year and zodiac symbols. The series contains contemporary portraits of musicians, laborers, and carnival floats in idyllic parades. As in Piero della Francesca's world, the unemotive figures mill in classical serenity.
He also painted the organ doors for the Duomo showing the Annunciation (1469). He collaborated in the painting of a series of "muses" for a studiolo of Leonello d'Este
Leonello d'Este
thumb|220px|Leonello D'Este portrayed by Pisanello.Leonello d'Este was marquis of Ferrara and Duke of Modena and Reggio Emilia from 1441 to 1450.-Biography:...
, including the allegorical figure of Calliope at the National Gallery (see image). While the individual attributions are often debated, among the artists thought to complete the Angelo di Pietro da Sienna, also called Maccagino or Angelo Parrasio, and Michele Pannonio.
Selected works
- Saint George - San Diego Museum of Art http://www.gardnermuseum.org/2002_exhibitions/ctura_ex.asp
- Pieta (c. 1460) - Museo CorrerMuseo CorrerThe Museo Correr is the civic museum of Venice, located in the Piazza San Marco, and is entered by the ceremonial stairway in the Ala Napoleonica at the western end of the Piazza opposite the church of San Marco at the other end...
, Venice http://www.gardnermuseum.org/2002_exhibitions/ctura_ex.asp - The Martyrdom of Saint Maurelius (1470s) - Pinacoteca Nazionale, FerraraFerraraFerrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/2002_exhibitions/ctura_ex.asp - The Circumcision of Christ (1470s) - Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
, Boston http://www.gardnermuseum.org/2002_exhibitions/ctura_ex.asp - Madonna and Child (1455) - National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. http://www.gardnermuseum.org/2002_exhibitions/ctura_ex.asp
- Portrait Eleonora d'Aragona, Duchess of Ferrara - Pierpont Morgan Library, New York http://www.gardnermuseum.org/2002_exhibitions/ctura_ex.asp
- Spring or the muse "Calliope" (1460) - National Gallery, London. http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura10.html
- The Princess (1470) - Museo del Duomo, Ferrara. http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura1.html
- St. George and the Dragon (c. 1470) - Museo del Duomo, Ferrara) http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura2.html
- Madonna Enthroned (1474) - National Gallery, London) http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura4.html
- St. Sebastian - Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, Germany) http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura6.html
- St. Dominic - UffiziUffiziThe Uffizi Gallery , is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.-History:...
, FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura7.html - Pietà, (Louvre) http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura11.html
- St. Anthony of Padua Reading - LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
http://www.abcgallery.com/I/italy/tura12.html - Pietà (c. 1472) - Museo CorrerMuseo CorrerThe Museo Correr is the civic museum of Venice, located in the Piazza San Marco, and is entered by the ceremonial stairway in the Ala Napoleonica at the western end of the Piazza opposite the church of San Marco at the other end...
, Venice - Lamentation (c. 1472) - Roverella altarpiece
- Saint Nicholas - Musée des Beaux-Arts de NantesMusée des Beaux-Arts de NantesThe Fine arts Museum of Nantes is an art museum in Nantes, France.The museum was created in 1801 with the purchase of the Cacault collection and was located in is actual Palais des Beaux-Arts since 1900....
- Letter A miniature from choirbook (Metropolitan Museum, New York) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iman/hob_11.50.1.htm
- Frescoes at the Palazzo SchifanoiaPalazzo SchifanoiaPalazzo Schifanoia is a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna built for the Este family. The name "Schifanoia" is thought to originate from "schivar la noia" meaning literally to "escape from boredom" which describes accurately the original intention of the palazzo and the other villas...
, Ferrara http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/t/tura/schifano/- Allegory of September: Triumph of Vulcan
- Allegory of August: Triumph of Ceres
- Allegory of June: Triumph of Mercury
External links
- Gardner museum retrospective
- http://trionfi.com/0/g/75/t.html
- http://mj6ya6hn7f.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&aulast=Mann&auinit=CG&atitle=Cosme+Tura+of+Ferrara:+Style,+Politics,+and+the+Renaissance+City,+1450-1495&title=MLN&volume=113&issue=5&date=1998&spage=1209&issn=0026-7910
- Cosme Tura at Panopticon Virtual Art Gallery