Prospero Fontana Sagrada Familia con San Juanito 1548-51

Prospero Fontana (1512–1597) was a

Bolognese Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nati ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

of late

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

and

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, 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 Ita ...

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. Stor ...

Professional life

Prospero Fontana was likely taught by Innocenzo 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 ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

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

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio 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 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

'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 was built by Pope Julius III 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 art and artifacts. ...

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 (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

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

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, Italy. Founded as Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy and Company of the Arts of Drawing") on 13 January 1563 by ...

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 1590 ...

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 born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light t ...

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci (or 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 founders ...

, 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 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 found Jesus by following a star ...

'', 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, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

. 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 the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

Sebastiano del Piombo Sebastiano del Piombo (; c. 1485 – 21 June 1547) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and early Mannerist periods famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Venetian school in which he was trained w ...

, and

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-ce ...

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 into his style after working with prominent artists of the movement. He is an early representative of the

Bolognese school The Bolognese School of painting, also known as the ''School of Bologna'', flourished between the 16th and 17th centuries in Bologna, which rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting in Italy. Its most important representatives i ...

of painting. His style has been compared to that of

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and ''The ...

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