Rinaldo Mantovano

Italian painter. According to Vasari, he was the best pupil of Giulio Romano. He is documented in the workshop of the Palazzo del Tè in Mantua, where he collaborated on the decoration of the Sala dei Venti, the Camera delle Aquile (1527) and the Loggia di David (1531). His work with Giulio is documented from 1531, when he participated in the decoration of the Castello di San Giorgio, Mantua, for the wedding of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Margherita Paleologa, and in that of the apartment built for the bride in the Palazzo Ducale. From 1532 to c. 1536 he worked in the Sala dei Giganti of the Palazzo del Tè, where his somewhat flat decorative style can be identified in most of the wall paintings and part of the ceiling. From 1536 to 1539 he worked with Giulio's group in the Palazzo Ducale, decorating the Appartamento di Troia and the Camerino dei Falconi. In S Andrea, Mantua, he executed frescoes designed by Giulio in the Boschetti Chapel. Such scenes as the Rediscovery of the Precious Blood show his tendency to flatten figures, thus diminishing the effect of space. The attribution to him of the decoration of the chapel of S Sebastiano, also in S Andrea, is doubtful.

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