Francesco Bonsignori

1455 – 1519

Italian painter. His father, Albertus Bonsignori, was reputedly an amateur painter; and besides Francesco, the oldest and most talented of his children, three other sons, including Bernardino (c. 1476-c. 1520) and Girolamo (b. c. 1479), are also recorded as painters. Barely 20 paintings and fewer than a dozen drawings have been attributed to Francesco Bonsignori. Documents from his time at the Gonzaga court in Mantua and Vasari 's account of his life are the main sources for information on the artist. In Verona, he was under the influence or a pupil of Liberale da Verona. In 1487, he went to Mantua, where he was largely patronized by the Marchese Francesco Gonzaga and was influenced by Mantegna. He excelled in painting animals. In the Brera at Milan is his St Louis and in the refectory of the church of the Franciscans at Mantua are some perspective views. His last production was The Vision of Christ to the nun Ozanna, dated 1519, and now in the Academy at Mantua.

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