Francesco Denanto (also referred to as Francesco de Nanto and Francesco de Nempto) was an Italian woodcutter of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

period. He was born in

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, but worked in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in the 1520s. This is known as a result of two notarial acts signed by Denanto in Rome - one from 6 January 1524, and a later copy from the end of 1524 or early 1525. There is no evidence, however, that he ever worked for

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

.Francesco Denanto
in the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

One set of woodcuts completed by Denanto was a series on the life of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. He obviously worked with

Girolamo da Treviso Girolamo da Treviso (Treviso, 1498 – Boulogne-sur-Mer, September 10, 1544), also known as Girolamo di Tommaso da Treviso the Younger and Girolamo Trevigi, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and painter in Henry VIII's court in England. Biogr ...

whose name is indicated on two prints. Depaulis lists 21 actual prints by Francesco Denanto, of which impressions of 17 are kept in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. It is known that

Ferdinand Columbus Ferdinand Columbus ( or ; ; ; 15 August 1488 – 12 July 1539) was a Spanish bibliographer and cosmographer, the second son of Christopher Columbus. His mother was Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, who his father never married. Biography Ferdinand Colu ...

also owned some more prints by Denanto, which have not been preserved, save one or two. Michael Bury, in analysing the notarial acts signed by Denanto, has suggested that the artist may have completed at least 50 woodblocks before his arrival in Rome.

Notes

References

* *

Thierry Depaulis Thierry Depaulis (born 1949) is an independent historian of games and especially of playing cards, card games, and board games. He is President of the association ''Le Vieux Papier'', a member of the editorial board of the International Board Game ...

, ‘From Savoy to Rome: De Nanto, a neglected printmaker of the early 16th century’, ''

Print Quarterly ''Print Quarterly'' is an international academic journal devoted to the history and art of printmaking, from its origins to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It is published in London four times a year, in March, June, September, and Decemb ...

'', vol. XXXVII, no. 2 (June 2020), pp. 123–139. * Michael Bury, 'Francesco de Nanto in Rome 1524-26: New Documents', ''

'', vol. XXXVIII, no. 2 (June 2021), pp. 180-183. This includes an Appendix of Documents. Attribution: * 15th-century people from the Savoyard State Woodcut cutters Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Woodcut designers Artists from Rome {{Italy-painter-15thC-stub