Name Giovanni de | Siblings Evangelista de Predis | |
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Similar People Bianca Maria Sforza, Cristoforo de Predis, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Maximilian I - Holy Roman E, Bona of Savoy | ||
Isabella a muse for an angel
Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis (Preda, c. 1455 – Milan, c. 1508) was an Italian Renaissance painter, illuminator and designer of coins active in Milan. Ambrogio gained a reputation as a portraitist, including as a painter of miniatures, at the court of Ludovico Sforza.
Contents
- Isabella a muse for an angel
- Milano Salvini arriva al mercato e la banda suona Bella ciao
- Life
- Work
- References
Milano, Salvini arriva al mercato e la banda suona 'Bella ciao'
Life
Ambrogio de Predis was born in a family of artists from Lombardy. His brothers and half-brothers including Evangelista, Bernardino and Cristoforo were also painters.
Little is known about his training. He initially worked as an illuminator in collaboration with his half-brother Cristoforo. He produced seven miniatures for a Book of Hours in 1472 (the work no longer exists) and again for a Book of Hours in 1474. He then worked on designs for the local mint in Milan along with his brother Bernardino. He subsequently worked for the court of the Sforzas for a number of years, mainly as a portrait painter. It is during this time that he offered hospitality to Leonardo da Vinci when he arrived in Milan.
A marriage was arranged between Emperor Maximilian I and Bianca Maria Sforza, niece of Ludovico il Moro, but before the former would commit to the arrangement, he requested a portrait of his proposed bride. The portrait of Bianca Maria was painted by Ambrogio, who followed her to Innsbruck after the wedding in 1493. In 1494 he returned to Milan, where he designed coins for the mint, designed and supervised tapestry works, and prepared stage scenery. In 1502 he produced his only surviving signed and dated work, a portrait of the Emperor Maximilian. Much of Ambrogio de Predis's artistic output remains in dispute.
Work
He and his brother Evangelista are known to have collaborated with Leonardo da Vinci on the painting of the Virgin of the Rocks for the altarpiece in the chapel of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception at the Church of San Francesco Grande, Milan. Leonardo painted the central panel with the Virgin of the Rocks (National Gallery, London), while the two brothers created the side panels. The side panels for the Virgin of the Rocks, now in the National Gallery, London were stated by the brothers to have been painted by them during the legal dispute over the altarpiece, and this is accepted by art historians.
