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. The majority of these are on canvas, but a considerable number, including some large pieces, are created on wood panels. There are only a few surviving drawings from the artist.
Annunciation is a 1535–1540 oil on panel painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia, having been left to the city collection by count Paolo Tosio in 1832 – no previous owners are known. Its small dimensions mean it was probably painted for a home or clergy house rather than a church. Several replicas and copies are known, some of which are now lost.
Christ and the Angel is an oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, executed c. 1550, now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia. In 1630 Bernardino Faino recorded it "in the Capella della Santissima Croce d'oro et fiamma" in Brescia's Old Cathedral. It was restored in 1914 and 1935.
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".
Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista Organ Case is a set of four tempera on canvas paintings produced by Moretto da Brescia, c. 1535. The inner sides show stories from the life of John the Baptist and scenes from the life of John the Evangelist. They now hang on the walls of the chancel of the church for which they were painted, San Giovanni Evangelista in Brescia.
Supper in the House of Simon the Pharisee is a 1544 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Chiesa della Pietà in Venice, Italy.
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 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.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a painting in oils on canvas by Moretto da Brescia, executed c. 1522 and now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. It arrived in the Accademia's collection in exchange for two paintings sent to the Tempio Canoviano in Possagno. The painting is one of the most notable works of the artist's youth. Its original location is unknown as the first confirmed written record of the work dates to the 19th century. It was probably in the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel's altar in Santa Maria del Carmine church in Brescia; a reference to a "large canvas ... something of a large study in the hand of Moretto" in Bernardino Faino's 1630 guide to Brescian art may be to this work.
The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr or The Martyrdom of Saint Peter of Verona is a 1530–1535 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Sala dell'Esedra in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
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 Sant'Eufemia Altarpiece is a 1526-1530 oil on panel painting by Moretto da Brescia, originally on the high altar of Sant'Afra in Brescia and now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in the town. The Sant'Afra Reliquary was also based on the painting. The painting's lower register shows saints Benedict of Nursia, Euphemia, Justina and Paterius.
The Luzzago Altarpiece is a 1542 oil on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia. It was recorded in San Giuseppe church in Brescia in 1630 and moved to its present home in 1868. In the lower register Michael the Archangel points the kneeling donor to the Madonna and Child above, whilst Francis of Assisi stands to the right with a cross.
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.
Portrait of a Gentleman with a Letter is a 1535–1540 painting by Moretto da Brescia, now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia, to which it was given in 1854. No record of it before that dates survives, though some art historians have identified it with a lost Portrait of Pietro Aretino recorded in correspondence.
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.
The Dead Christ Adored by Saint Jerome and Saint Dorothy or Saint Jerome and Saint Dorothy Adoring Christ in the Tomb is a 1520-1521 tempera verniciata on canvas painting by Moretto da Brescia. It is on show above the left-hand side door to the church of Santa Maria in Calchera in Brescia, though it is not thought to have originally been produced for that church as neither Jerome nor Dorothy had an active cult in that parish and they rarely appear in art together.
Massacre of the Innocents is an altarpiece oil painting by Moretto da Brescia, executed in 1531–1532, originally painted on panel but later transferred to canvas. It is on display on a side altar in San Giovanni Evangelista church in Brescia.
Count Guglielmo Lochis was an Italian nobleman, politician, art collector and art connoisseur.
The Bergamasque and Brescian Renaissance is one of the main variations of Renaissance art in Italy. The importance of the two cities on the art scene only expanded from the 16th century onward, when foreign and local artists gave rise to an original synthesis of Lombard and Venetian modes, due in part to the two cities' particular geographical position: the last outpost of the Serenissima on the mainland for Bergamo and a disputed territory between Milan and Venice for Brescia.
