Prospero Fontana Sagrada Familia con San Juanito 1548-51

Prospero Fontana (1512–1597) was a Bolognese

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

of late

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 ...

art. He is perhaps best known for his frescoes and architectural detailing. The speed in which he completed paintings earned him commissions where he worked with other prominent artists of the period. He was a prominent figure in the city of Bologna, serving as official arbitrator in the business disputes of local artists. In his later career Fontana trained younger painters, including his own daughter

Lavinia In Roman mythology, Lavinia ( ; ) is the daughter of Latinus and Amata, and the last wife of Aeneas. Creation It has been proposed that the character was in part intended to represent Servilia Isaurica, Emperor Augustus's first fiancée. Story ...

Professional life

Prospero Fontana was likely taught by Innocenzo di Pietro Francucci da Imola, but there is a degree of uncertainty surrounding the relationship between the two men. As a teenager, Fontana was an assistant on Perino del Vaga's Palazzo Doria in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. However, art historians cannot definitively identity Fontana's contributions to the decorations. In the 1550s, Fontana painted

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III (; ; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1550 to his death, in March 1555. After a career as a disting ...

's portrait and was pensioned at the pontifical court. He also decorated the Palazzo di Firenze for the Pope's brother, Balduino del Monte. During his time in Rome, he collaborated with Taddeo Zuccaro on the

Villa Giulia The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It is named after Pope Julius III, who had it built in 1551–1553 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, a collection of Etruscan ...

in Rome (1553). J. A. Gere suggests that Fontana supervised the project and was responsible for the paintings in the North Room. Fontana worked with

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

on a few commissions, which are briefly described in the '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects''. Vasari notes that Fontana was unable to complete his work on the Chateau of Fontainebleau (1560) in France due to a health issue. Finished collaborative work includes the

Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...

in Florence (1563-5). Florian Härb observes the similarities between several of Vasari's drawings and Fontana's larger paintings, which indicate that the drawings were the basis for much of Fontana's commissions. There are multiple explanations offered by Härb and Charles Davis, including Fontana's admiration of Vasari's style and prominence in Renaissance Italy. In 1565, Fontana was elected to the

Accademia delle Arti del Disegno The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy of the Arts of Drawing") is an academy of artists in Florence, in Italy. It was founded on 13 January 1563 by Cosimo I de' Medici, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. It was initially known as ...

in Florence. In 1576, Fontana was one of several artists and intellectuals consulted by Cardinal

Gabriele Paleotti Gabriele Paleotti (4 October 1522 – 22 July 1597) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Bologna. He was a significant figure in, and source about, the later sessions of the Council of Trent, and much later a candidate for the papacy in 15 ...

in the debate over the reformation of religious art. Pellegrino Tabaldi and Fontana worked on the Cappella Poggi in S Giacomo Maggiore in Bologna. Towards the end of his career, Fontana opened a school of art in Bologna. Some of his most notable students were

Ludovico Carracci Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci ( , , ; 21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker from Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering li ...

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci ( , , ; also Caracci; 16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter, printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the fo ...

, Lorenzo Sabbatini, and Denys Calvaert. In Bologna, Fontana served as an arbitrator and resolved professional disputes. Robert W. Gaston explains that this was a prestigious position at the time. Fontana died in Bologna in 1597. The altarpiece of the ''

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...

'', in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, is considered to be his masterpiece. A large quantity of his work remains in Bologna.

Artistry

Artistic influences

The majority of the artists who trained and collaborated with Fontana were heavily influenced by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

. He also looked to the work of

Antonio da Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for so ...

Sebastiano del Piombo Sebastiano del Piombo (; – 21 June 1547) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and early Mannerism, Mannerist periods, famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Venetian School (art), Venetian scho ...

, and

Giulio Romano Giulio Pippi ( – 1 November 1546), known as Giulio Romano and Jules Romain ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the ...

Style

Fontana was well known for the speed in which he completed commissions. Carlo Cesare Malvasia criticized him for being careless and unprofessional. His early style is considered conservative. He gradually incorporated elements of

Mannerism 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 ...

into his style after working with prominent artists of the movement. He is an early representative of the Bolognese school of painting. His style has been compared to that of

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

Major works

* ''Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist,'' 1545, oil on canvas — Church of Santa Maria del Baraccano, Bologna * ''Beata Diana Andalò professing with Saint Dominic'', 1545, oil on panel — San Domenico, Bologna * ''Disputa di Santa Caterina'', 1551, oil on panel, 361 x 178 cm — Santa Maria del Baraccano, Bologna * ''Julius III'', 1553, oil on panel — Biblioteca Universitaria, Bologna

Personal life

Prospero's father, Silvio Fontana, was a stonemason. Prospero married Antonia de Bonardis in 1539. They had two daughters, Emilia and

. Emilia died in 1568, just five years after her wedding to Floriano Bertelli. Prospero taught his surviving daughter Lavinia how to paint in his workshop.

Notes

References

* *Flick, Gert-Rudolf (2008). "Prospero Fontana." ''Masters & Pupils: The Artistic Succession from Perugino to Manet, 1440-1880''. London: Hagarth Arts. pp. 76–95. . *Gaston, Robert W. (July 2, 2014). “Prospero Fontana’s Holy Family with saints.” ''Art Journal'' 19. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/prospero-fontanas-holy-family-with-saints/. *"(1) Prospero Fontana". ''Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist Art.'' Vol 1. Jane Turner, ed. Grove Encyclopedias of European Art. Suffolk: 2000. p. 561. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Prospero 1512 births 1597 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Bologna Italian Mannerist painters