Lattanzio Gambara
Encyclopedia
Lattanzio Gambara 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, active in a 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...
and Mannerist
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
styles.
Biography
Born in BresciaBrescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, as a 15 year old he initially apprenticed with Giulio Campi
Giulio Campi
thumb|250px|Portrait of Alessandro Farnese.Giulio Campi was an Italian painter and architect. His brothers Vincenzo Campi and Antonio Campi were also renowned painters.-Biography:...
in Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, by 1549, he is working alongside Girolamo Romanino, who became his father-in-law. An altarpiece of S. Maria in Silva dates to 1558. He frescoed for the Villa Contarini in Asolo
Asolo
Asolo is a town and comune in the Veneto Region of Northern Italy. It is known as "The Pearl of the province of Treviso", and also as "The City of a Hundred Horizons" for its mountain settings.-History:...
. He would become influenced by Pordenone
Pordenone
Pordenone is a comune of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.The name comes from the Latin "Portus Naonis" meaning the port on the river Noncello - History :...
. He painted a cycle of frescoes on the History of the Apocalypse that decorated the Loggia of Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, until they were destroyed by bombing in 1944.
In these years the artist returns to Brescia to work with Romanino in a series of generally lost frescoes for Sant'Eufemia and Saint Lorenzo in Brescia. He painted altarpieces for the abbey of Saint Benedict in Polirone
Polirone Abbey
The abbey of San Benedetto in Polirone stands in the Italian comune San Benedetto Po, near Mantua.The abbey was founded in 1007 by Tedald, count of Canossa, the paternal grandfather of Matilda of Canossa, countess of Tuscany, with a grant to the Benedictine monks, of half his land lying between the...
. He also decorated Palazzo Mayo in Cadignano (Lama Mocogno
Lama Mocogno
Lama Mocogno is a comune in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 50 km southwest of Bologna and about 40 km southwest of Modena. The Monte Cimone is located nearby....
, in collaboration with Giulio and Antonio Campi
Antonio Campi
Antonio Campi was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.He was born in Cremona. His style merges Lombard with Mannerist styles. In Cremona, his extended family were the main artistic produce. Giulio Campi and Antonio were reportedly half-brothers, while Vincenzo Campi was a full brother....
). In 1565 he worked briefly in Venice. He painted a Nativity for the church of San Faustino in Brescia,.
In 1566, Gambara completed the fresco cycle in the parish church of S. Stefano in Vimercate
Vimercate
Vimercate is a city and comune in the province of Monza and Brianza, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is 25 kilometres from Milan and 10 from Monza.The city was originally founded by the Romans on the banks of the river Molgora.-Main sights:...
, with Life of the saint in the inferior part of the apse and God the Father, Christ, Virgin and angels in the half-dome. In 1567-73, he completes his masterpiece, the frescoes in the nave of the Cathedral of Parma
Cathedral of Parma
Parma Cathedral is a cathedral church in Parma, Emilia-Romagna . It is an important Italian Romanesque cathedral: the dome, in particular, is decorated by a highly influential illusionistic fresco by Renaissance painter Antonio da Correggio....
, in collaboration with Bernardino Gatti
Bernardino Gatti
Bernardino Gatti was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma and Cremona.Born in or near Pavia or Cremona. He is also commonly called il Sojaro. His early apprenticeship is unclear, though he is influenced by the pre-eminent local painters: Pordenone, alongside whose works...
.
During the last few years, after the decoration of the drum of the cupola of Santa Maria of the Steccata in Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, Gambara executed various others frescoes for palaces in Brescia and Parma, including a Deposition (1568) for the church of San Pietro al Po in Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
. He fell off a scaffold, dying before completing the frescoes of the cupola of S. Lorenzo in Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
.
One of his pupils was Giovita Brescianino
Giovita Brescianino
Giovita Brescianino and a pupil of Lattanzio Gambara. He was active c. the year 1580. He should not be confused with later painters called Brescianino.-References:...
.