Francesco del Cossa
Encyclopedia
Francesco del Cossa was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 early-Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 (or Quattrocento
Quattrocento
The cultural and artistic events of 15th century Italy are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento...

) painter of the School of Ferrara
School of Ferrara (painting)
The School of Ferrara was a group of painters which flourished in the Duchy of Ferrara during the Renaissance. Ferrara was ruled by the Este family, well known for its patronage of the arts. Patronage was extended with the ascent of Ercole d'Este I in 1470, and the family continued in power till...

.

Biography

He is known to have been the son of a stonemason in Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

. Although little is known about his early works, it is known that he traveled outside of Ferrara in his late twenties or early thirties.

Cossa is best known for his fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

es. One of the first records we have of him is in 1456 when he was an assistant to his father, Cristofano del Cossa, at that time employed in painting the carvings and statues on the high altar in the chapel of the bishop's palace at Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

.

Allegorical frescoes in Palazzo Schifanoia

In conjunction with Cosimo Tura
Cosimo Tura
Cosimo Tura , also known as Il Cosmè or Cosmè Tura, was an Italian early-Renaissance painter and considered one of the founders of the School of Ferrara....

, Cossa is now known for fresco decoration of the summer pleasure villa/palazzo known as the Palazzo Schifanoia
Palazzo Schifanoia
Palazzo Schifanoia is a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna built for the Este family. The name "Schifanoia" is thought to originate from "schivar la noia" meaning literally to "escape from boredom" which describes accurately the original intention of the palazzo and the other villas...

, located just outside the city gates. Together, they painted a series of the elaborate allegories around the themes of zodiacal signs and months of the year. These were only partially restored in the 20th century, and there are three that are reasonably assigned to Cossa. Of these, one of the most remarkable images is the horde of naked toddlers in the Allegory of May - Triumph of Apollo. Apparently a sign of springtime's prolific blossoming, the crowded rows of babies mass like a phalanx of infantile Rockettes.

The Allegory of April has a depiction of the trio of Graces, one of the earliest Post-classical representations of the naked intertwined dancers in painting. Sandro Botticelli
Sandro Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance...

's version in Primavera
Primavera (painting)
Primavera, also known as Allegory of Spring, is a tempera panel painting by Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli. Painted ca. 1482, the painting is described in Culture & Values as "[o]ne of the most popular paintings in Western art"...

 dates from 1482. See the 1501 version of the Three Graces
Three Graces (Raphael)
The Three Graces is an oil painting by Italian painter Raphael, housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France. The date of origin has not been positively determined, though it seems to have been painted at some point after his arrival to study with Pietro Perugino in about 1500, possibly 1503-1505...

 (now at Chantilly
Chantilly, Oise
Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...

). Assuming the date of death of Cossa is correct, this one must have been completed prior to the others.

Cossa in Bologna

Unhappy that he had been paid by the square foot for his work for Duke Borso
Borso d'Este
thumb|Borso d'Este, attributed to [[Vicino da Ferrara]], [[Pinacoteca]] of the [[Castello Sforzesco|Sforza Castle]] in [[Milan]], [[Italy]].Borso d'Este was the first Duke of Ferrara, which he ruled from 1450 until his death...

 and complaining he was being paid the same as the "worst dauber in Ferrara", Cossa left Ferrara for Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 in 1470. In Bologna he obtained many commissions under the patronage of the Bentivoglio
Bentivoglio
Bentivoglio was an Italian family of princely rank, long supreme in Bologna and responsible for giving the city its political autonomy during the Renaissance.-History:...

 family. Here he painted his two masterpieces: the Virgin and Child with two saints and a portrait of Alberto de' Catanei (1474) and fresco of the Madonna del Baracano, representing the Virgin and Child with portraits of Giovanni Bentivoglio and Maria Vinziguerra (1472).

In the National Gallery of London there is a picture by him representing St. Vincent Ferrer, an "Annunciation", in the Dresden collection, which has been attributed to Pollaiuolo
Pollaiuolo
Pollaiulo is the name of several people:* Brothers Antonio del Pollaiolo and* Piero del Pollaiolo, 15th-Century artists....

, and a fine profile portrait at Locko Park near Derby, said to represent Duke Ercole I
Ercole d'Este I
Ercole I d'Este was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the house of Este. He was nicknamed North Wind and the Diamond.-Biography:...

 of Ferrara. He executed stained glass windows in Bologna, the best of which is a circular window, in the church of San Giovanni in Monte, representing St. John in Patmos; this bears his signature.

Anthology of works

  • Annunciation and Nativity
  • Griffoni Polyptych
    St Vincent Ferrer (1473, National Gallery, London)
    St Peter (1473, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan)
    St John the Baptist (1473, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan)
    St Florian 1473,National Gallery of Art, Washington)
    St Lucy (1473, National Gallery of Art, Washington)
    The Crucifixion (1473, National Gallery of Art, Washington)
    St Petronius (1473, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara)
    11 other small pictures from altarpiece (1473, ?, ?)
  • Madonna with the Child and Saints(1474, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna)
  • Frescoes for Hall of Months, Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara (before 1470?)
    Allegory of April: Triumph of Venus
    Allegory of May: Triumph of Apollo
    Allegory of March: Triumph of Minerva
  • Polyhymnia
    Polyhymnia
    Polyhymnia , was in Greek mythology the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn and eloquence as well as agriculture and pantomime. She is depicted as very serious, pensive and meditative, and often holding a finger to her mouth, dressed in a long cloak and veil and resting her elbow on a pillar...

    , the Muse of Many Songs

External links

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