The ''Bentivoglio Altarpiece'' is a painting by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Renaissance painter

Lorenzo Costa Lorenzo Costa (1460 – 5 March 1535) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born at Ferrara, but moved to Bologna by his early twenties, and was probably influenced by the Bolognese school, Bolognese School. However, many artists worked in ...

, dating to August 1488. It is displayed in the Bentivoglio Chapel of the church of

San Giacomo Maggiore The Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore is an historic Roman Catholic church in Bologna, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy, serving a monastery of Augustinian friars. It was built starting in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, f ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It was commissioned by

Giovanni II Bentivoglio Giovanni II Bentivoglio (12 February 144315 February 1508) was an Italian nobleman who ruled as tyrant of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The House of Bentivoglio, Bentivogli ...

, lord of Bologna, as a thanksgiving for the family's escape from an attempted massacre by the Malvezzi famil

Description

The painting is a large canvas, executed by Costa together with other two works on the chapel's walls, the ''Triumph of Fame'' and the ''Triumph of Death''. It features, above a sumptuous Renaissance architecture, a marble altar with a rich frieze; at the top of is a throne on which the Madonna and Child sit. At the sides, kneeling, are the two donor husband and wife,

and

Ginevra Sforza Ginevra Sforza (ca. 144117 May 1507) became the wife of Sante Bentivoglio and then of Giovanni II Bentivoglio, both de facto '' signori'' (or unofficial leaders, or 'lords') of Bologna. She had 18 children and served the Bentivoglio family by fu ...

. In the foreground, at the feet of the throne, are their eleven children. On the left are the daughters (from left, Camilla, Bianca, Francesca, Violante - future spouse of

Pandolfo IV Malatesta Pandolfo IV Malatesta, nicknamed Pandolfaccio (Bad Pandulph) (July 1475 – June 1534) was an Italian condottiero and lord of Rimini and other cities in Romagna. He was a member of the House of Malatesta and a minor player in the Italian Wars. ...

, Laura, Isotta and Eleonora); on the right the four children (

Ermes Ermes may refer to: * ERMES, the European radio paging system * Ermes (name), including a list of people with the name * Ermes di Colorêt Ermes di Colloredo (28 March 1622 – 21 September 1692) was an Italian count and writer who served the G ...

, Alessandro, Anton Galeazzo and the elder one,

Annibale Annibale is the Italian masculine given name and surname equivalent to Hannibal. In English, it may refer to : Given name * Annibale Albani (1682–1751), Italian cardinal * Annibale I Bentivoglio, (died 1445), ruler of Bologna from 1443 * Ann ...

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentivoglio Altarpiece 1488 paintings Paintings by Lorenzo Costa Paintings in Bologna Paintings of the Madonna and Child Altarpieces