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Author's biography |
Painter of the school of Ferrara-Bologna, notable as one of the first Ferrarese artists to adopt a soft, atmospheric style of painting.Costa was trained at Ferrara, probably under Cosm?Tura> who was the first important native-born Ferrarese painter. From at least 1485 he worked at Bologna in close connection with Francia> the major Bolognese artist of the period, who led him to soften his style and eliminate his native robustness. His best works are several altarpieces in the churches of Bologna.>In 1506, soon after the expulsion of the ruling Bentivoglio family from Bologna, he was summoned as court painter to Mantua to succeed Andrea Mantegna> He had already painted (1504-06) one elaborate allegory for the Marchesa of Mantua.>He was the leading artist in Mantua until the arrival of Giulio Roman> in 1524, but little of his large-scale work survives. His mature style is often rather sweetly Peruginesque, with a delicate feeling for landscape, and has been suggested as one of the sources of Giorgion>'s work. There are good examples of Costa's work in the National Gallery, London, including The Concert> one of the first examples of a type of picture (a close-up of a group of musicians) that was later to have a considerable vogue.>He spent his last years in the service of the Gonzagas, doing religious and historical pictures. |
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