Giovanni Agostino Da Lodi

Italian painter and draughtsman (also known as Pseudo-Boccaccino). The identification of a particular hand has resulted in the removal of a group of paintings from those formerly attributed to Boccaccio Boccaccino of Cremona (whence the name 'Pseudo-Boccaccino'). This resulted from the discovery of the signature of Giovanni Agostino da Lodi on a small panel painting of SS Peter and John (c. 1495; Milan, Brera) and was confirmed by another on a drawing, Allegory of Prudence (private collection). These works suggest that he was an intermediary between the perspective art of Lombardy during the last decade of the 15th century and the Venetian style of Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione and the other painters of their circle. A lengthy stay in Venice is attested by a payment made in 1504 and by the presence of important paintings in the Veneto, such as the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Saints (Murano, S Pietro Martire), Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples (1500; Venice, Gallerie dell'Accademia) and the Virgin and Child with SS Roch and Nicholas (Bribano, S Nicola), in which his style was enriched by elements inspired by Dürer. His career thus appears to have run parallel with Girolamo Romanino, Altobello Melone and those artists whose works reveal a fusion of Milanese, Venetian and northern European influences. After returning to Lombardy, Giovanni Agostino da Lodi executed paintings at Gerenzano (in situ), in the Certosa di Pavia (in situ; thus confirming his importance in contemporary Lombard art) and for S Maria della Pace, Milan (now in Milan, Brera).

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