Alessandro Bonvicino, more commonly known as Moretto, or in Italian Il Moretto da Brescia, was an Italian Renaissance painter from Brescia, where he also mostly worked. His dated works span the period from 1524 to 1554, but he was already described as a master in 1516. He was mainly a painter of altarpieces that tend towards sedateness, mostly for churches in and around Brescia, but also in Bergamo, Milan, Verona, and Asola; many remain in the churches they were painted for. Most are on canvas, but a number even of large ones are on wood panel. Only a handful of drawings survive.
The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Brescia is located on at the west end of Via Elia Capriolo, where it intersects with the Via delle Grazie. Built in the 16th century and remodeled in the 17th century, it still retains much of its artwork by major regional artists, including one of its three canvases by Moretto. The other two are now held at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo. The interior is richly decorated in Baroque fashion. Adjacent to the church is the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a neo-gothic work.
The Deaf-Mute Filippo Viotti's Vision of the Virgin Mary is an oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, executed c. 1534, displayed in the Santuario della Madonna at Paitone in the Province of Brescia, Italy. It is first recorded in 1648 by Carlo Ridolfi, who wrote that "in the church atop Monte Paitone one can still admire a miraculous image of the Virgin which Moretto made at the request of that town for such a miracle".
Lament over the Dead Christ is a 1526–1530 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Painted late in the painter's youth, it shows strong similarities to the central panel of Paolo Caylina the Younger's Deposition Altarpiece from around the same time, though there are also notable differences in their use of color, such as the brighter and clearer colors used by Moretto. Some of the elements reused by Moretto in Lament recurred later in his career, so the work gives a clear idea of Moretto's training and education as an artist.
Christ with the Cross or Christ with the Cross and a Monk is a 1518 oil on panel painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.
Christ with the Eucharist and Saints Bartholomew and Roch is an oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, executed c. 1545, still in the church of San Bartolomeo in Castenedolo in the Province of Brescia, Italy.
Christ with Moses and Solomon is a 1541-1542 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, displayed on the altar of the Most Holy Sacrament in the collegiate church of Santi Nazaro e Celso in Brescia, the artist's home town. It has been the altarpiece for that altar throughout the historical record, from Bernardino Faino's mention of it in 1630 to the present day.
Christ in Glory with Saint Peter and Saint Paul is an oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, executed c. 1540, displayed on the altar dedicated to St Peter in the abbey church of San Nicola in Rodengo-Saiano, where it has been since its production. It shows Christ handing the keys of the kingdom to Saint Peter and the book of doctrine to Paul of Tarsus. It was probably commissioned by one or more of the Olivetan monks of the church, probably by Tommaso da Gussago, as referred to by Luigi Fé d'Ostiani in 1886 on the basis of an unidentified document.
Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian is an oil on canvas painting on one of the side altars of the church of Sant'Andrea in Pralboino, province of Brescia, Italy. It was executed c. 1528 by Moretto da Brescia.
Madonna and Child with Four Doctors of the Church is a 1540-1545 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt. From left to right it shows Saint Ambrose, Gregory the Great, Saint Jerome and Augustine of Hippo.
Madonna and Child with Saint Martin and Saint Catherine is an oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, executed c. 1530, now on the high altar in the church of San Martino in Porzano, Province of Brescia. It is the painter's first mature work and forms an important step towards his Coronation of the Virgin Altarpiece.
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints is a 1536-1537 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now on one of the side altars in the church of Sant'Andrea in Bergamo.
The Orzinuovi Altarpiece or Enthroned Madonna and Child with Saints Dominic, Joseph, Vincent Ferrer, Lucy and a Commissioner is a 1525–1530 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia on the wall of the chancel of the church of San Domenico in Orzinuovi.
The Pralboino Altarpiece is a 1540–1545 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia in the church of Sant'Andrea in Pralboino, Province of Brescia, Italy. The work's upper register shows the Madonna and Child with Francis of Assisi and Saint Joseph, whilst below are saints Jerome, Louis of Toulouse, Anthony of Padua, Clare of Assisi and the painting's commissioner, cardinal Uberto Gambara, member of a local family. It was originally in the same town's Franciscan church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The Rovelli Altarpiece is a 1539 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, which since 1899 has been in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia, Italy. Strongly influenced by Titian, it is named after the schoolmaster Galeazzo Rovelli who commissioned it for the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Brescia in 1539, where it remained until being removed in the 19th century and replaced by a copy. Its composition was reused by Moroni in his Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine in the 1560s.
The Assumption Altarpiece was a 1529-1530 multi-panel painting by Moretto da Brescia. It is mainly oil on panel, although the two angels on the cornice are in tempera grassa verniciata.
St Anthony of Padua with Two Saints is a c.1530 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia. The other two saints shown are Antony the Great and Nicholas of Tolentino.
St Justina of Padua with a Donor is an oil on panel painting by Moretto da Brescia, executed c. 1530, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, to which it was transferred in the late 19th century soon after the Museum's opening. It shows Justina of Padua.
The Standard of Our Lady of Mercy is a 1520-1522 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Tempio Canoviano in Possagno. It is made up of two canvases, now separated one showing Our Lady of Mercy and the other shows The Prophets Enoch and Elijah.
The Holy Cross Standard is a 1520-1521 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, commissioned by the Brescia's city council for the Company of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, guardians of the Sante Croci treasury at the city's Old Cathedral. It is now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in the city.
