Andrea Solari

Andrea Solari (also Solario) (1460–1524) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Milanese school. He was initially named Andre del Gobbo, but more confusingly as Andrea del Bartolo[1] a name shared with two other Italian painters, the 14th-century Siennese Andrea di Bartolo, and the 15th-century Florentine Andrea di Bartolo.

For the similarly named Italian painter Antonio Solario, see Antonio Solario. For similarly named Italian painters also called Andrea di Bartolo, see Bartolo.
Andrea Solario
Born
Andrea Solari

c. 1460
Milan, Lombardy
Diedc. 1524 (aged 63–64)
Milan, Lombardy
NationalityItalian
EducationAntonello da Messina
Known forPainting
Notable workCharles d'Amboise, Madonna with the Green Cushion, et al.
MovementRenaissance
Patron(s)influenced by Leonardo

His paintings can be seen in Venice, Milan, The Louvre and the Château de Gaillon (Normandy, France). One of his better-known paintings is the Madonna with the Green Cushion (c. 1507) in the Louvre.[1]

History
Mary Magdalene went to anoint Christ's dead body, only to discover that he was resurrected. She is shown here transferring the ointment from a maiolica pharmacy jar to a smaller vessel. c. 1524
Madonna with the Green Cushion, 1507–1510, Oil on wood (poplar) H. 59.5 cm; W. 47.5 cm, Musée du Louvre.

Solario was born in Milan. He was one of the most important followers of Leonardo da Vinci, and brother of Cristoforo Solari, who gave him his first training whilst employed extensively on work at the Milan cathedral, and at the Certosa di Pavia.[2] In 1490 he accompanied his brother to Venice, where he seems to have been strongly influenced by Antonello da Messina, who was then active in the city. The fine portrait of a Venetian Senator (currently at the National Gallery of London) displayed Antonello's plastic conception of form and was probably painted about 1492. The two brothers returned to Milan in 1493. The Ecce Homo at the Poldi-Pezzoli Museum, notable for its strong modelling, may have been painted soon after his arrival.[3]

Solari's earliest dated work is a Holy Family and St. Jerome (at the Brera Gallery), with a fine landscape background, executed at Murano in 1495. The original work influenced Correggio's painting, The Holy Family with Saint Jerome in 1515. The Leonardesque type of the Madonna proves that Andrea after his return from Venice, became strongly influenced by the great Florentine artist, who was then carrying everything before him. To this period of Andrea belong a small Crucifixion (1503, at the Louvre) and the portrait of Charles d'Amboise (Louvre); the portrait of Giovanni Longoni (1505, National Gallery of London); the Annunciation (1506, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge); and the Madonna with the Green Cushion (Louvre), for which a sensitive drawing of the Virgin's head is in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana at Milan; and the Head of the Baptist in a silver charger (1507, Louvre).

In 1507 Andrea Solari went to France with letters of introduction to the Cardinal of Amboise, and was employed for two years on frescoes in the chapel of his castle of Gaillon in Normandy.[4] According to Giovanni Morelli's suggestion,[5] the artist may have visited Flanders before returning to his native country, and this may account for the Flemish character of his later work.

The artist was back in Italy in 1515, the date of the Flight into Egypt (Poldi-Pezzoli Collection) with its harmonious and detailed landscape background. To this period belong the Procession to Calvary (Borghese Gallery, Rome); the portrait of the Chancellor Domenico Morone (Palazzo Scotti, Milan); and the Woman playing a guitar (at the National Gallery of Ancient Art, Rome).

Andrea's last work was an altarpiece representing The Assumption of the Virgin for the Certosa di Pavia, left unfinished at his death and completed by Bernardino Campi about 1576.[6]

Works
  • Charles d'Amboise, c. 1507 - oil on canvas; H. 75 cm, W. 52 cm, Louvre
    Charles d'Amboise, c. 1507 - oil on canvas; H. 75 cm, W. 52 cm, Louvre
  • Christ on the Cross, 1503 - oil on wood; H. 111.5 cm, W. 77 cm, Louvre
    Christ on the Cross, 1503 - oil on wood; H. 111.5 cm, W. 77 cm, Louvre
  • Woman playing the lute, c. 1510 - oil on canvas; H. 62,6 cm, W.49,5 cm, National Gallery of Ancient Art
    Woman playing the lute, c. 1510 - oil on canvas; H. 62,6 cm, W.49,5 cm, National Gallery of Ancient Art
  • Man with a Pink Carnation, c. 1495 - Oil & egg tempera on poplar; H. 50 cm, W. 39 cm, National Gallery of London
    Man with a Pink Carnation, c. 1495 - Oil & egg tempera on poplar; H. 50 cm, W. 39 cm, National Gallery of London
  • Portrait of a Man, c. 1500 - oil on panel; H.42 cm, W. 32 cm, Brera Gallery
    Portrait of a Man, c. 1500 - oil on panel; H.42 cm, W. 32 cm, Brera Gallery
  • Portrait of a Young Man, after 1490 - Oil on panel; H. 31 cm, W. 28 cm, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
    Portrait of a Young Man, after 1490 - Oil on panel; H. 31 cm, W. 28 cm, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
  • Portrait of a Man, c. 1497 - Oil on wood; H. 48 cm, W. 38 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
    Portrait of a Man, c. 1497 - Oil on wood; H. 48 cm, W. 38 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Portrait of Giovanni Cristoforo Longoni, 1505 - oil on panel; H. 79 cm, W. 60,5 cm, National Gallery of London
    Portrait of Giovanni Cristoforo Longoni, 1505 - oil on panel; H. 79 cm, W. 60,5 cm, National Gallery of London
  • Christ carrying the cross, 1513, oil on panel, 45,5 x 34 cm, Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
    Christ carrying the cross, 1513, oil on panel, 45,5 x 34 cm, Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
  • Head of a Bearded Man, 1500-1510 - black, red, and yellow chalk on brownish paper; H. 374 mm, W. 273 mm, Metropolitan Museum
    Head of a Bearded Man, 1500-1510 - black, red, and yellow chalk on brownish paper; H. 374 mm, W. 273 mm, Metropolitan Museum
  • Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1515 - oil on panel; H. 77 cm, W. 55 cm, Poldi-Pezzoli Museum
    Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1515 - oil on panel; H. 77 cm, W. 55 cm, Poldi-Pezzoli Museum
  • Salome receives the Head of St John the Baptist, 1506-7 - oil on panel; H. 57 cm, W. 47 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Salome receives the Head of St John the Baptist, 1506-7 - oil on panel; H. 57 cm, W. 47 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art

References
  1. "The Louvre: Madonna with the Green Cushion". Louvre.fr. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  2. Cristoforo Solari (c. 1460–1527), also known as il Gobbo (the hunchback), was a distinguished Italian sculptor and architect. Among his work, one of the most famous is the tomb of the dukes Ludovico il Moro and Beatrice d'Este for the Certosa di Pavia, carved between 1497 and 1499.
  3. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Solario, Antonio" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 357.
  4. Demolished during the French Revolution
  5. "Dictionary of Art Historians: Giovanni Morelli". arthistorians.info. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  6. "Sacrestia Nuova". museo.certosadipavia.beniculturali.it. Ministero per Beni e le Attività Culturali. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2022.

Further reading
  • Brown, David Allen, Andrea Solario, Electa Mondadori, Milan (1987). (in Italian)
  • Brown, David Allen, et al., The Legacy of Leonardo: Painters in Lombardy, 1490-1530, Skira, Milan (1999).
  • Kleinschmidt, Beda Julius (1912). "Solari" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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