Biography

Italian painter. He was a significant figure in the artistic life of Treviso, and, as he is recorded there almost annually from 1483, he could not have been a pupil with Giovanni Bellini in Venice from 1490 to 1500, as has been suggested. Many works by him are documented, the earliest in 1495, but only one documented work survives: the fresco of Christ in the semi-dome of the chapel of the Santissimo in Treviso Cathedral, commissioned in 1511. The chronology of his oeuvre is thus highly problematic. Among his presumed early works were the Virgin and Child with Saints, influenced by Girolamo da Treviso the elder and Antonello da Messina, and the Dead Christ with Angels (both destroyed in Berlin). These reflected Northern art, including engravings by Dürer.

His works from the early 16th century probably include the Sacra Conversazione (Museo Civico Luigi Bailo, Treviso), Christ the Redeemer (Galleria Nazionale, Parma), the Virgin and Child with Donor (Ca' d'Oro, Venice) and the Holy Family with Donor (Museo Civico, Bassano). The attribution of the ceiling of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Venice, considered a very late work, is uncertain. The iconography lacks unity, and it is difficult to identify Pennacchi's hand. In addition to the influences of Bellini, Antonello and Girolamo, his secure works reflect Northern and Lombard elements and early paintings by Lorenzo Lotto. The use of colour in such late works as the Dormition of the Virgin (Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice) shows a knowledge of Giorgione.