This small town seems to have produced little local talent previous to
the birth of Foppa. Ottaviano Prandino, who had worked with Altichiero
at Padua, and Bartolommeo Testorino (died about 1429) are little more
than names.
Vincenzo Foppa (1427?-1516?) was born near Brescia. The theory that
he studied under Squarcione at Padua lacks confirmation. On the other
hand, he seems to have been little affected by the Squarcionesque
traditions, and is rather to be regarded as the artistic product of
the school of Verona, where he would have come under the influence
of Pisanello and Jacopo Bellini. He may have been a friend of Andrea
Mantegna. It is, however, not in Brescia, but in Milan that Foppa’s art
may be studied to-day. He arrived in Pavia about 1458, and became the
founder of the school of Milan twenty years before Leonardo first took
up his abode at the court of Lodovico Il Moro.
Foppa’s pupil Vincenzo Civerchio (1470?-1544) and Floriano Ferramola
(1480-1528) were the joint founders of the school of Brescia; Romanino
(1485-1566) was a pupil of the latter. The Louvre is singularly poor
in its representation of this school, which cannot here be studied
earlier than the (so-called) _Portrait of Gaston de Foix_ (No. 1518) by
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo (1480?-1548?). This canvas, which appears to
be signed
_Opera di Jovanni Jeronimo di Bressia di Savoldi_,
shows unmistakably the conflicting influences, mostly Venetian, under
which this artist worked.
Moretto (1498?-1555?), who was a pupil of Ferramola and was influenced
by Savoldo and Romanino, produced large and striking altarpieces as
well as portraits. He met with some success in his attempts to combine
a subtlety of feeling peculiar to himself with the “silvery” tones of
which he was so fond. His _St. Bernardino of Siena and St. Louis of
Toulouse_ (No. 1175) and his _St. Bonaventura and St. Anthony of Padua_
(No. 1176) are arched panels on a much smaller scale than he often uses.
Moretto’s pupil, Giambattista Moroni (1525?-1578), painted many far
better portraits than that of _An Old Man seated_ (No. 1395). The only
other Brescian painting in this collection seems to be the _Portrait of
a Man_ (No. 1646), who is seen at half length, seated three-quarters to
the left and wearing a robe trimmed with fur. Although catalogued as
an unattributable Italian work, it is in our opinion by Calisto Piazza
of Lodi (fl. 1520-1560), the son of Martino Piazza of the Milanese
school. To Calisto da Lodi has been assigned the _Portrait of a Knight
of Malta_ (No. 1594) which is catalogued as being by Titian.
The Louvre is very inferior to the National Gallery in both the quality
and quantity of pictures of this school.