Andrea Solario (1460?-1515?), who was perhaps the pupil of his brother
Cristoforo a sculptor and architect, went with him to Venice in 1490
and remained there at least three years. During this time he came under
the influence of Alvise Vivarini and Giovanni Bellini. Earlier in his
career he was impressed by the pictures of Antonello da Messina, who
was in Venice and Milan in 1475-1476. Solario can hardly have become
Antonello’s pupil at that early age. He must also have come within the
sphere of Leonardo da Vinci’s influence. Leonardo, who worked in Milan
between 1482 and 1500 and from 1506 to 1513, was asked by the Cardinal
George of Amboise to decorate a chapel in the Château at Gaillon in
Normandy. He, however, advised the Cardinal to employ Solario. Solario
in consequence went to France in August 1507 to undertake the work.
The Louvre is rich in his pictures. His charming _Madonna of the Green
Cushion_ (No. 1530) is inscribed:
_Andreas de Solario fa._
This small panel was once the property of Marie de Médicis. The
_Crucifixion_ (No. 1532) was formerly catalogued under the name of
Andrea de Milan, which led some to confuse Andrea Solario with the much
less efficient painter, Andrea Salaino. This picture is inscribed: