Lorenzo Costa 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 of the 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...

.

Biography

He was born at 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...

, but moved to Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 by the his early twenties, and would be more influential to the Bolognese school of painting

Bolognese School (painting)

The Bolognese School or the School of Bologna of painting flourished in Bologna, the capital of Emilia Romagna, between the 16th and 17th centuries in Italy, and rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting. Its most important representatives include the Carracci family, including Ludovico...

. However, many artists worked in both nearby cities, and thus others consider him a product 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...

. There are claims that he trained with Cosimo Tura

Cosimo Tura

Cosimo Tura , also known as Il Cosmè or Cosmè Tura, was an Italian early-Renaissance painter and considered one of the founders of the School of Ferrara....

.

In 1483 he painted famous Bentivoglio Altarpiece, and other fresco

Fresco

Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

es, on the walls of the Bentivoglio

Bentivoglio

Bentivoglio was an Italian family of princely rank, long supreme in Bologna and responsible for giving the city its political autonomy during the Renaissance.-History:...

 chapel in San Giacomo Maggiore

San Giacomo Maggiore

San Giacomo Maggiore is a church in Bologna, central Italy. It was founded by the Augustinian Order in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, featuring numerous Renaissance artworks.-History:...

, and he followed this with many other works. He was a great friend of Francesco Francia, who was much influenced by him. In 1509 he went to Mantua

Mantua

Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...

, as the court painter of Marquis Francesco Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este

Isabella d'Este

Isabella d'Este was Marchesa of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whose innovative style of dressing was copied by women throughout Italy and at the French court...

. For the latter's studiolo in the Ducal Palace, he painted the Allegory of Isabella d'Este's Coronation (now at the Louvre) and the Reign of Komos, two mythological paintings based on Mantegna's drawings.

He died at Mantua in 1535. His sons, Ippolito

Ippolito Costa

Ippolito Costa was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. He was born in Mantua, the son of the painter Lorenzo Costa. Although not a pupil of Giulio Romano, his style closely imitated that master. He mentored his brother, Girolamo Costa and the painter Bernardino Campi.-References:...

 and Girolamo, were also painters, and so was Girolamo's son, Lorenzo the younger

Lorenzo Costa the Younger

Lorenzo Costa the Younger, who was born in 1537, was the son of Girolamo Costa, and was instructed in the art of painting by his uncle Ippolito. He worked in concert with Taddeo Zuccaro in the Belvedere at Rome, about 1560, and died in 1583.-References:...

. Contemporaries who worked with or below him include Cosimo Tura

Cosimo Tura

Cosimo Tura , also known as Il Cosmè or Cosmè Tura, was an Italian early-Renaissance painter and considered one of the founders of the School of Ferrara....

, Dosso Dossi

Dosso Dossi

Dosso Dossi , real name Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the Ferrara School of Painting.-Biography:Dossi was born in San Giovanni del Dosso a village in the province of Mantua...

, Ludovico Mazzolino

Ludovico Mazzolino

Ludovico Mazzolino - also known as Mazzolini da Ferrara, Lodovico Ferraresa, and Il Ferrarese - was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna.-Biography:...

 and the painter, Niccolò Pisano (1470 – 1538).

External links

• http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=14959Lorenzo Costa at the Louvre
  Louvre
  The 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...
  
  .]