Liberale Da Verona

1445 – 1528

Italian illuminator, painter and woodcut designer (originally Liberale di Jacopo dalla Biava). His father, the baker Jacopo, came from Monza; his mother, Jacoba, was the daughter of the Veronese painter Zeno Solimani (active c. 1438) and sister of the painter Nicolò Solimani (active c. 1462-1493). The latter, according to Vasari, was Liberale's teacher (but mistakenly called Vincenzo di Stefano in the Vite). Liberale is documented in Verona in 1455 and 1465, but works from this period are not known. His career thereafter may be divided into two periods: as a young artist he was based in Siena, where his work on a group of choir-books for the cathedral demonstrates his originality as an illuminator; in or soon after 1476 he returned to Verona, where he established himself as one of the city's major painters, and he took up fresco and oil painting. During both periods he travelled and worked in other centres. His earlier paintings are executed in a meticulous and minute style, but his later works are more broadly treated, apparently under the influence of Mantegna. He was also influenced by the Mantegnesque miniaturist Girolamo da Cremona. Notable examples are Madonna with Saints, his earliest known painting; Adoration of the Magi (cathedral, Verona); and a predella, with scenes of the Nativity, Epiphany, and Death of the Virgin (Episcopal Palace, Verona).

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