Lattanzio Gambara (c. 1530 – 18 March 1574) was an Italian painter, active in

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 ...

and

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

styles. It is likely that Gambara is the same 16th century painter referred to as ''Lattanzio Cremonese'' or ''Lattanzio da Cremona''.

Biography

Born in

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

, Gambara initially apprenticed, aged fifteen, with Giulio Campi in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

. By 1549 he was working alongside Girolamo Romanino, who became his father-in-law. Gambara's work also shows the influence of il Pordenone. An altarpiece of S. Maria in Silva dates to 1558. He painted frescoes in the Villa Contarini in

Asolo Asolo () is a town and ''comune'' in the Veneto, Veneto Region of northern Italy. It is known as "The Pearl of the province of Treviso", and also as "The City of a Hundred Horizons" for its mountain settings. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'It ...

. Another fresco cycle on the ''History of the Apocalypse'' decorated the Loggia of

, until it was destroyed by bombing in 1944. In his maturity the artist returned to Brescia to work with Romanino in a series of generally lost frescoes for Sant'Eufemia and Saint Lorenzo in Brescia. He painted altarpieces, all but one of them now lost, for the abbey of Saint Benedict in Polirone, and also decorated Palazzo Mayo in Cadignano ( Lama Mocogno, in collaboration with Giulio and Antonio Campi). In 1565 he worked briefly in Venice. He painted a ''Nativity'' for the church of ''San Faustino'' in Brescia.Brescia commune homepage
/ref> In 1566, Gambara completed the fresco cycle in the parish church of S. Stefano in Vimercate, with ''Scenes from the life of the saint'' in the inferior part of the apse and ''God the Father, Christ, Virgin and angels'' in the half-dome. In 1567–73, he completed his masterpiece, the frescoes in the nave of the Cathedral of Parma, in collaboration with

Bernardino Gatti Bernardino Gatti (c.1495 – 22 February 1576) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma and Cremona. He is also commonly called il Sojaro. He was born in or near Pavia or Cremona. His early apprenticeship is unclear, ...

. During his last years, after the decoration of the drum of the cupola of Santa Maria of the Steccata in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, Gambara executed various other frescoes for palaces in Brescia and Parma, including a ''Deposition'' (1568) for the church of ''San Pietro al Po'' in

. He died, from falling off a scaffold, while painting the frescoes of the cupola of S. Lorenzo in

. One of his pupils was Giovita Brescianino.

Notes and references

External links

Gambara biography on artcyclopedia.Getty biography.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gambara, Lattanzio 1530s births 1574 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Brescia Painters from Cremona Italian Mannerist painters Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Italy Fresco painters