BERGOGNONE, Ambrogio
(b. ca. 1453, Fossano, d. 1523, Milano)

Biography

Ambrogio Bergognone (also Borgognone), originally Ambrogio di Stefano da Fossano, Italian painter of the Lombard school whose use of subdued and subtle colours lead Berenson to nickname him the 'Whistler of the Renaissance'. He was a pupil of Foppa, Leonardo had hardly any influence on him. His youthful Madonnas are deeply perceived and are evidence of the naive piousness of their creator. Together with Foppa he is considered to be the greatest painter of the Milanese School. He painted an altarpiece and frescoes for the convent of the Carthusians at Pavia (1514) and frescoes in the church of S. Simpliciano, Milan.