Giovan Battista della Cerva (c. 1515 – 1580) was an Italian

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...

 painter.

Born in Novara

Novara

Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...

, he was a pupil of Gaudenzio Ferrari

Gaudenzio Ferrari

Gaudenzio Ferrari was a Northern Italian painter and sculptor of the Renaissance.-Biography:Gaudenzio was born at Valduggia in the Valsesia in the Duchy of Milan. Valduggia is now in the Province of Vercelli in Piedmont. He is said to have first learned the art of painting at Vercelli from...

, of whom he became the main assistant and collaborator during the last stage of his career. Works entirely by della Cerva include a Polyptych in Santa Maria di Piazza at Busto Arsizio

Busto Arsizio

Busto Arsizio is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy, in northern Italy, 25 km north of Milan in the province of Varese.The economy of Busto Arsizio is mainly based on industry and commerce.-History:...

, two altarpieces in San Nazario in Brolio at Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and the frescoes (together with Bernardino Lanino) in the St. Catherine chapel near the latter.

He was also the master of Giovan Paolo Lomazzo. Giovan Battista della Cerva died in Milan in 1580.