Benedetto Montagna
Italian, 1481 - 1558
Engraver and painter, son of (1) Bartolomeo Montagna. His approximate date of birth is derived from the fact that he was given power of attorney in 1504. In 1517 his father received payment for work (untraced) done by Benedetto in the Palazzo del Podestà, Vicenza, and in 1522 Benedetto was paid for frescoes (destr.) in S Agostino, Padua. After this date altarpieces by Benedetto are documented at intervals until 1541. As a painter, he is of merely local significance. His style is based on his father’s, with some admixture from contemporaries such as Moretto, Pordenone and Domenico Campagnola. He is more important, however, as an engraver. His earliest engravings are usually dated c. 1500 but could be somewhat earlier. They often seem to be based directly on drawings, or in one case a painting, by his father and reflect the austere beauty of these. Almost from the beginning, however, he embellished his father’s style with motifs and technical borrowings from the prints of Albrecht Dürer, five of which he is known to have copied between c. 1500 and 1505. The unlikely amalgamation of Bartolomeo with Dürer is startlingly exemplified in St Jerome (b. 14). Around 1505 Benedetto was apparently in contact with Girolamo Mocetto, a contact that benefited both artists; thereafter Benedetto’s technique and artistic orientation were strongly affected by the example of Giulio Campagnola. As a result, his latest engravings recall Giorgione in character, not least in regard to their subject-matter. They include seven illustrations of Ovid and other mythological, arcadian and genre scenes. Benedetto was the most prolific engraver of his generation in northern Italy and influenced others such as Girolamo Mocetto and Nicoletto da Modena ( fl before 1500–12): 52 engravings are unmistakably his, 47 of them signed or monogrammed.
Francis L. Richardson. "Montagna." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T059218pg2 (accessed April 11, 2012).
Person TypeIndividual
Italian, 1692 - 1770