Lattanzio Gambara | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait | |
| Born | 1530 |
| Died | 18 March 1574(1574-03-18) (aged 43–44) |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Italian Renaissance andMannerism |
Lattanzio Gambara (c. 1530 – 18 March 1574) was an Italian painter, active inRenaissance andMannerist styles. It is likely that Gambara is the same 16th century painter referred to asLattanzio Cremonese orLattanzio da Cremona.[1]
Born inBrescia, Gambara initially apprenticed, aged fifteen, withGiulio Campi inCremona. By 1549 he was working alongsideGirolamo Romanino, who became his father-in-law. Gambara's work also shows the influence ofil Pordenone. An altarpiece of S. Maria in Silva dates to 1558. He painted frescoes in the Villa Contarini inAsolo. Another fresco cycle on theHistory of the Apocalypse decorated the Loggia ofBrescia, until it was destroyed by bombing in 1944.
In his maturity the artist returned to Brescia to work with Romanino in a series of generally lost frescoes for Sant'Eufemia and Saint Lorenzo in Brescia. He painted altarpieces, all but one of them now lost, for theabbey of Saint Benedict in Polirone, and also decorated Palazzo Mayo in Cadignano (Lama Mocogno, in collaboration with Giulio andAntonio Campi). In 1565 he worked briefly in Venice. He painted aNativity for the church ofSan Faustino in Brescia.[2]
In 1566, Gambara completed the fresco cycle in the parish church of S. Stefano inVimercate, withScenes from the life of the saint in the inferior part of the apse andGod the Father, Christ, Virgin and angels in the half-dome. In 1567–73, he completed his masterpiece, the frescoes in the nave of theCathedral of Parma, in collaboration withBernardino Gatti.
During his last years, after the decoration of the drum of the cupola ofSanta Maria of the Steccata inParma, Gambara executed various other frescoes for palaces in Brescia and Parma, including aDeposition (1568) for the church ofSan Pietro al Po inCremona. He died, from falling off a scaffold, while painting the frescoes of the cupola of S. Lorenzo inBrescia.
One of his pupils wasGiovita Brescianino.
