Van Gogh • Artist Biographies • Bernardino Luini

Bernardino Luini

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Bernardino Luini was the best-known and most important member of the group of painters influenced by Da Vinci during his stay in Milan. Although no facts about Luini's life are known besides tales of adventure and of retreats into monasteries, we do know that he became active as a painter in about 1512, with a fresco based on mythological stories. This work is carefully finished, warm in color, and shows the influence of Bramantino, a conservative Milanese artist of the fifteenth century. Luini was surely a pupil, possibly a friend of Da Vinci. His later frescoes, for Santa Maria de Miracoli at Saronno, Santa Maria degli Angeli at Lugano, and San Maurizio in Milan show how much he owed to the great Florentine. The quiet coloring, subtle modeling, use of gesture, and the repetition of the Mona Lisa half-smile on his women's faces are all reminiscent of da Vinci.

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