Belbello da Pavia, also known as Luchino Belbello from Pavia (d. c. 1470), was an Italian painter active between 1430 and 1462 and associated with Lombard book illumination. He was born in Pavia before soon moving to Milan where he caught the attention of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti. He was assigned to continue work on the Book of Hours of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, which he began sometime between 1412 and 1434. Belbello worked on it throughout different periods of his life, evident by his changing style in the illustrations. During the same years, he also worked on a Bible for Niccolo' III d'Este, a work finished by Jacopino d'Arezzo in 1434. Later in life, Belbello moved to Mantua, where he painted a Missal for Gianlucido Gonzaga (of the noble Gonzaga family) beginning in 1448. He was forced to leave Mantua because of moral misdemeanor in 1450 and returned to Pavia. In 1461, the Marchioness of Mantua, Barbara of Brandenburg, gave the work over to Girolamo da Cremona. The following year, after an unsuccessful attempt at appealing the Marchioness's decision, Belbello moved to Venice where he lived until his death.
Life Belbello's background is relatively unknown, with no information regarding his year of birth and first formal training. His personal life remains a mystery due to a lack of documentation. His place of birth is one of the only things that is verified, with that being Pavia in the Lombard province. It is known that at a young age Belbello left for Milan where he met the Duke, Filippo Visconti.
Still working on the Book of Hours, Belbello worked for Niccolo' III d'Este in illustrating a bible. This was later taken over by Jacopino who completed it. Belbello is noted to have been in Mantua during 1448 where he worked for Gonzaga on a Missal. During his time there, Belbello eventually faced burning at the stake and was forced to flee due to a moral misdemeanor he was accused of in 1450. He stayed in contact with the Gonzaga family even after he returned to Pavia after his retreat from Mantua.
In 1461 Belbello was stripped of his task of working on the Missal by Barbara of Brandenburg, Marchioness of Mantua, in favor of a younger artist, Girolamo da Cremona. This was due to Belbello falling out of favor with the Marchioness, as his work no longer satisfied her. His replacement had based his models on Ferrarese as well as Mantegna. Belbello tried to appeal to the Marchioness, which subsequently failed and forced him to stop working on it. In 1462 Belbello seems to have been working for the Duchess of Milan for a short stint, as evident by a letter dated 1462.
After 1461 Belbello's style changed, becoming much more monumental and embracing artistic qualities from the Renaissance. This change in style is attributed to his forceful exit from his work on the Missal by the Marchioness of Mantua as well as his replacement with a younger artist who was more in style. His newer works offer a glimpse into the internal struggle of Belbello as he grappled with his old age and the changing taste of the public. Belbello is then thought to have returned to Venice where he stayed until his death, and where his style remained popular. Four pieces connect the artist to the city: A frontispiece of a manuscript in the Marciana, a manuscript in the Kupferstichkabinett, a Psalter in the British Museum, and an Antiphonary in the Monastery of S. Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.
Belbello was among the artists gravitating around the workshop of active Pavia miniaturists. His artistic tendencies were formed in the wake of Lombardy artists such as Michelino Molinari da Besozzo, as well as being somewhat influenced by French miniaturists. Some of his work also seems to be influenced by Michele Giambono, especially in Seated Evangelist, which has similarities to Giambono's St. Michael in the way its figure is spatially placed.
Modern rediscovery Belbello remained unrecognized until the early twentieth century when Pietro Toesca attributed the style of the miniatures in the d'Este Bible to the illustrations found in the 2nd half of the Visconti Hours. Before Toesca's discovery, his works were often attributed to the French school, the schools of Siena, Bologna, and the Marches, as well as other artists such as Giovanni di Paolo and Sano di Pierto. Using letters from the Gonzaga family concerning the artist responsible for part of the illustrations in a Missal, Toesca was able to identify the Belbello mentioned in the correspondence. Toesca had attributed 12 works from the Kann Collection to a follower of Belbello from Venice in 1930, but in 1951, Professor Mario Salmi determined that they were products of Belbello. There was some controversy regarding fol. 57v of the Visconti Hours, which Toesci had credited to Belbello, despite some differences in the style when compared to his other illustrations located in the book. Samek-Ludovici rejected Toesci's attribution of the work on the grounds that it was too much of a departure from Belbello's style, being much coarser in nature and with sharper colors when compared to Belbello's other illustrations. Samek-Ludovici then attributed the work to a Master X, an unknown artist. Mirella Levi D'Ancona, author of The Wildenstein Collection of Illuminations: The Lombard School, reasons that this conflict in style was due to a difference in their dates of production. She argues that due to some particularities in the design of Filippo Maria's portrait in fol. 57v, that the work must have been started after the Duke's death in 1447. The details in question are the inclusion of clouds surrounding Filippo's bust as rays of light radiate outward, glorification that would be inappropriate if the Duke had still been living when it began. Thus she states that Belbello's work on the Book of Hours must have been interrupted by the Duke's death while he was working in Mantua for the Gonzagas, and he resumed his work when he was forced to flee in 1461.
A "Master of Murano" was identified in an essay by Serena Padovani, in which she argues that this miniaturist was a major influence on a specific fresco-artist who had worked on the Chapel of the Rocca of Vignola, a small agricultural center south of Modena. This building featured frescoes that are dated stylistically to about 1425 and was an object of interest due to the artist's anonymity and apparent influence from this miniaturist. The connection was formed due to sharply cut drapery folds predominantly featured in the miniaturist's work which was also found on the frescoes. She also argued for the Master's influence on Ferrarese late Gothic art as well as on Belbello. This Master was then identified as Belbello himself in a response to the essay by Miklos Boskovits in the catalog of the exhibition "Arte in Lombardia fra gotico e rinascimento".
Master of the Murano Gradual
Some work formerly attributed to Belbello has now been thought to come from a close collaborator known as the "Master of the Murano Gradual". This artist seems to implement the style of Belbello but his art features figures that are more broadly conceived and more fleshed out, with serious expressions. His name comes from a type of choir book known as a gradual he worked on that only exists in loose leaf sheets in various collections. The book is thought to come from the Camaldolese monastery of San Michele in Murano, and the Master is thought to have been one of the most distinctive illustrators who worked on illuminating manuscripts in Northern Italy.
The initial "I" with the holy Pope, found in the West Bohemian Museum in Plzen, was thought to have been the work of Belbello at first but is now thought to have been done by a potential successor to Belbello who was potentially from Venice. The work retains Belbello's humor and elegance yet is also much more serious and emotional than his predecessor's work.
Follower of Belbello
The figures known as Sts. Cosmas and Damian- Initial O are not by Belbello although they share a striking resemblance to his body of work. They seem to have been made by a follower of his who also may have worked with Belbello on the Antiphonary M of S. Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. He seems to be from Padua or Bologna and his work, unlike Belbello, utilizes strong shadows and very defined planes. This work might come from the Antiphonary of St. Giorgio in Venice, much like the St. Catherine piece, as well as Belbello's The Annunciation seem to originate from. All three share a similar style in regards to their treatment of the initial and include 3 white dots gathered to form a triangle. This work has a coarser way of painting features than Belbello does and uses brown shading in its figures. It lacks the bright colors Belbello is known for.
Works Belbello's earliest and most prominent work involved his contributions to the Book of Hours of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, a work entrusted to him by the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti. The work had been started in 1390 by Giovannino de Grassi and his son Salomone after it was commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Giangaleazzo Visconti, but had been interrupted twice. The first interruption was due to the death of Giovannino in 1398 and the second due to the death of Giangaleazzo Visconti in 1402. It was entrusted to Belbello in 1412 when Filippo Maria became the Duke after the assassination of his older brother, Giovanni Maria. The Visconti Hours seems to show an already developed style despite some imitation of his predecessors who had worked on the book previously. This is mentioned in commentary located earlier in the miniatures where Belbello states his desire to mimic dei Grassi's style. However, there is no homogeneity in the work done by Belbello, with variations in style being present throughout the book. According to art historian Millard Meiss, author of The Visconti Hours, some of these differences are thought to be due to the work of assistants in completing illustrations for Belbello. Meiss attributed the massiveness of certain works, or parts of works, to either Belbello's own evolving style or the work of associates. The Book of Hours of Gian Galeazzo Visconti is currently stored in two different collections, one in Milan called the Collection Visconti di Modrone which features pages that were solely done by Giovannino and his school and the other located in the National Library in Florence, collection Landau Finaly Ms. 22, which has works from Giovannino and Salomone but also includes the continuation by Belbello.
Belbello then worked on a Breviary on behalf of Marie of Savoy, Duchess of Milan (1432) and the Bible Estense (1434), the latter highlighting an original expressionism and a narrative sequence.
The works of his artistic maturity, however, include a Gradual, commissioned by Cardinal Bessarion and a Roman Missal for the Mantua Cathedral, in which his forms assumed greater fullness with effects that closely resembled Baroque tendencies. He produced Illuminated manuscripts for the most prominent clients in northern Italy, using an original style inspired by the grotesque vein and expressiveness of the International Gothic style.
In the miniatures of the Bible for Niccolò d'Este (1431-1434) Belbello painted imposing figures, flowing lines, and excessive gestures with bright colors. Belbello remained faithful throughout his long career to the Gothic style, seldom breaking away completely from this style and instead adapting and modernizing it to his audience's taste. His death was in 1470.
Other works The Mission of the Apostles