Dosso Dossi

Renaissance painter Dosso Dossi (c. 1489-1542), born Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, was the leading painter of the School of Ferrara in the 16th century. His father was a bursar for the Este Dukes, and from 1514 until his death, Dossi served as court artist to Dukes Alfonso I and Ercole II d'Este. His patron had also employed Giovanni Bellini and Titian, whose Venetian influence shaped Dossi's rich colorito and sensual modeling of forms.

Dossi created mythological scenes set in lush, idealized landscapes with dream-like atmospheres and striking color disharmonies. Art historian Sydney Freedberg sees his unusual proportions as expressions of Renaissance "sprezzatura" (studied carelessness). His friend, the great poet Ludovico Ariosto, celebrated him in Orlando Furioso as one of nine great living painters. His most famous work, The Sorceress Circe (c. 1530), seems almost an illustration to Ariosto's verse. A portrait at the National Gallery of Victoria was recently identified as Lucrezia Borgia. Dossi often collaborated with his younger brother Battista, who had worked under Raphael. Works hang at the Uffizi Gallery, Galleria Borghese, and National Gallery of Art.