Ludovico (or Louis) Brea (c. 1450 – c. 1523) was an Italian painter of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

, active mainly in and near

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. Brea was born into a family of coopers in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

, and later moving to

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, he painted numerous

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...

s that displayed both

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

and

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

influences. One of his pupils was Teramo Piaggio. His earliest definite work is the ''Mercy between Saint Martino and Catherine of Alexandria'', painted for the monastery of

Cimiez Cimiez (; Italian: ''Cimella'') is an upper class neighborhood in Nice, Southern France. The area contains the Musée Matisse and the ruins of ''Cemenelum'', capital of the Ancient Roman province Alpes Maritimae on the Ligurian coast. ''Cemen ...

, near

, in 1475; recent historical searches have also suggested his having painted the ''Madonna of the Confraternity of the Misericordia'' at Nice in 1465. Other notable works by Brea can be found along all the coast from

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...

e, from

Taggia Taggia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Imperia. It has around 13,000 inhabitants. Taggia borders the following municipalities: Badaluc ...

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and '' comune'' in the region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini created the ...

(where the influence of the Lombardy painter

Vincenzo Foppa Vincenzo Foppa ( – ) was an Italian painter from the Renaissance period. While few of his works survive, he was an esteemed and influential painter during his time and is considered the preeminent leader of the Early Lombard School. He spent hi ...

can be seen, and during which time he was in the service of

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or t ...

), and from

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

to Genoa, where he was active from 1483, leaving his work to the Church of the Consolation. In Liguria, Ludovico's siblings Peter and Antonio Brea also operated as painters, as did Antonio's son, Francisco Brea (of whom details are only known for the period from 1512 to 1555).

Notable works and their locations

* ''Piety'' (1475), Monastère de

* ''Crucifixion'' (1481), Gallery of the White Palace, Genoa * ''Ascension'' (1483), Galleria Durazzo Giustiniani * ''Madonna of Misericordia'' (Madonna of Mercy) (1483–84) * ''

Polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a " triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapt ...

of San Caterina'' (1488) and ''Baptism of Christ'' (1495), both at the Dominican church and convent,

* ''Piety'', Monaco Cathedral * ''

Maestà Maestà , the Italian word for "majesty", designates a classification of images of the enthroned Madonna with the child Jesus, the designation generally implying accompaniment by angels, saints, or both. The ''Maestà'' is an extension of the "Se ...

'', church of Arcs-Van * ''Altarpiece of

Cathedral'' (1490), in collaboration with

* ''Altarpiece of Ognissanti'' (1512), San Maria di Castello, Genoa * ''Polyptych of San Giorgio'' (1516), church of Montalto

References

* 1450s births 1523 deaths 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters People from Nice Italian Renaissance painters Painters from Genoa {{Italy-painter-15thC-stub