Francesco del Cossa (c. 1430 – c. 1477) was anItalian Renaissance painter of theSchool of Ferrara, who after 1470 worked inBologna. Cossa is best known for hisfrescoes, especially his collaboration withCosimo Tura on a cycle of the months in thePalazzo Schifanoia of theEste family, rulers of Ferrara. Otherwise, his paintings are mostly of religious subjects, with some portraits and drawings attributed to him. He also designedstained glass.

Allegory of April, frescoPalazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara

Detail showingThe Three Graces

St. John of Patmos. Stained glass window in entrance ofSan Giovanni in Monte, Bologna, ca. 1480.

Detail

Francesco was the son of a stonemason inFerrara,^[1] little is known about his early works, although it is known that he travelled outside of Ferrara in his late twenties or early thirties.

One of the first records we have of him is in 1456 when he was an assistant to his father, Cristofano del Cossa, at that time employed in painting the carvings and statues on the high altar in the chapel of the bishop's palace atFerrara.^[2] One of his followers wasLeonardo Scaletti ofFaenza.^[3]

In conjunction withCosimo Tura, Cossa is now known for fresco decoration of the summer pleasure villa/palazzo known as thePalazzo Schifanoia. Together, they painted a series of elaborate allegories around the themes of zodiac signs and months of the year. These were only partially restored in the 20th century, and there are three that are reasonably assigned to Cossa. Of these, one of the most remarkable images is the horde of naked toddlers in theAllegory of May – Triumph of Apollo. Apparently a sign of springtime's prolific blossoming, the crowded rows of babies mass like a phalanx of infantileRockettes.

TheAllegory of April has a depiction of the trio of Graces, one of the earliest Post-classical representations of the naked intertwined dancers in painting.^[4]Sandro Botticelli's version inPrimavera dates from 1482. See the 1501 version of theThree Graces (now atChantilly). Assuming the date of death of Cossa is correct, this one must have been completed prior to the others.

Unhappy that he had been paid by the square foot for his work forDuke Borso and complaining he was being paid the same as the "worst dauber in Ferrara", Cossa left Ferrara forBologna in 1470.

In Bologna, he obtained many commissions under the patronage of theBentivoglio family. Here he painted his two masterpieces: theVirgin and Child with two saints and a portrait ofAlberto de' Catanei (1474) and fresco of theMadonna del Baracano, representing theVirgin and Child with portraits ofGiovanni Bentivoglio andMaria Vinziguerra (1472).

He executed stained glass windows in Bologna, the best of which is a circular window, in the church ofSan Giovanni in Monte, representingSt. John in Patmos. This bears his signature.

In theNational Gallery of London, there is a picture by him representingSt. Vincent Ferrer. There is a fine profile portrait at Locko Park near Derby, said to representDuke Ercole I of Ferrara. In theDresden collection there is also anAnnunciation.

• Annunciation and Nativity (1470–1472 Dresden Gemäldegallerie alte Meister)

  St Claire (1470-1472,Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, on deposit at theMuseo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña)^[5]

  St Catherine (1470-1472,Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, on deposit at theMuseo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña)^[6]

• Griffoni Polyptych [it]

  St Vincent Ferrer (1473, National Gallery, London)

  St Peter (1473, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan)

  St John the Baptist (1473, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan)

  St Florian 1473,National Gallery of Art, Washington)

  St Lucy (1473, National Gallery of Art, Washington)

  The Crucifixion (1473, National Gallery of Art, Washington)

  St Petronius (1473, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara)

  11 other small pictures from altarpiece (1473, ?, ?)

• Madonna with the Child and Saints (1474, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna)
• Virgin and Child with an Angel (1460,Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona)^[7]
• Frescoes for Hall of Months, Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara (before 1470?)

  Allegory of April: Triumph of Venus^[8][9]

  Allegory of May: Triumph of Apollo^[10]

  Allegory of March: Triumph of Minerva^[11]

• Polyhymnia, the Muse of Many Songs
• Portrait of a Man with a ring (1472-1477,Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum,Madrid)^[12]

The stained glass window was revealed to be the final answer of the Great Google Earth Treasure Hunt.

Del Cossa features as one of the two protagonists inAli Smith's novelHow to Be Both, short-listed for the2014 Man Booker Prize.^[13]

• Fogg Art Museum (1919).Collection of Mediaeval and Renaissance Paintings. Vol. 1. Harvard University Press.
• Hartt, Frederick; Wilkins, David G. (2011).History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. Prentice Hall.
• Williamson, George Charles (1908). "Cossa, Francesco".Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. Robert Appleton Company.
• Encyclopedia of Artists, volume 2, edited by William H. T. Vaughan,ISBN 0-19-521572-9, 2000

• Web Gallery of Art
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