Bernardo (or Bernardino) Zenale (c. 1460 – 1526) was an Italian painter and architect.

Biography

Zenale was born in Treviglio, Lombardy, where in 1485 he finished the great

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 tetrapty ...

for the church of St. Martin, together with his fellow Bernardino Butinone. Like Butinone, he is said to have trained with Vincenzo Civerchio. Later he collaborated to the decoration of the

Certosa di Pavia The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated near Certosa di Pavia (comune), a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia, north of Pavia. Built in 1396–1495, it was once located on the b ...

. Subsequently, he was engaged by Ludovico Sforza,

Duke of Milan The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. Before elevation to duchy Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that elec ...

, to paint a room in the Castello Sforzesco of that city. Also with Butinone, he frescoed the Grifi Chapel in the church of San Pietro in Gessate. After circa 1500, Zenale seemed to abandon the Ferrarese-expressionist style of Butinone, a strong influence from

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially re ...

starting to appear in his works. This is

manifest Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Aust ...

in the polyptych that he painted for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of Cantù (1502Now divided between the

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...

of Los Angeles

the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, Milan and the Museo Poldi Pezzoli of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

). He was influenced also by

Bernardino Luini Bernardino Luini (c. 1480/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as havin ...

's style: works like the ''Pala Busti'' and the large ''Annunciation'' (both in the

Pinacoteca di Brera The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

) have indeed raised disputes about the attribution to Luini or Zenale. Zenale worked also in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Ise ...

(the noteworthy ''Deposition'' in the church of St. John the Evangelist). In 1510 he painted a ''Madonna with Child between St. Ambrose and St. Jerome'', for the church of St. Francis in Milan, now in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

. In 1522 he replaced

Giovanni Antonio Amadeo 260px, Amadeo, Milan Cathedral 260px, The Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo. Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (c. 1447 – 27 or 28 August 1522) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor of the Early Renaissance, architect, and engineer. Biography Amadeo was born ...

in the direction of works of the Duomo di Milano.

Sources

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenale, Bernardo 1460s births 1526 deaths People from Treviglio 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters 16th-century Italian architects Italian Renaissance architects Architects from Milan Painters from Lombardy