Bernardino Lanino Italian, 1512-1578

Bernardino Lanino (Mortara, Italy 1512 – Vercelli, Italy 1578)

Born in Vercelli in 1512, he is documented as studying art as early as 1528 and, by 1533, had become a master painter. His work is often described as influenced by Gaudenzio Ferrari, for whom he probably worked in those years.

Bernardino Lanino produced many altarpieces and frescoes for churches in Vercelli and other cities in Piedmont, such as Biella and Novara. During the 1540s and 1550s, he made several trips to Milan, where he was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, most notably in the use of pens and watercolours with white highlights to create his compositional studies.

Following the death of his friend and colleague Gaudezio Ferrari, in 1546, Bernardino became the main artist in the Vercelli artistic scene, earning all of the local and Milanese commissions.

Three of his works are on display at the Museo Borgogna in Vercelli, including an Annunciation, a Madonna and Child with Saints Bernardino of Siena and Saint Francis of Assisi (also known as the Madonna of the dog due to dog asleep below Virgin) and a painted standard of the Madonna and Child with Saint Anna and a hooded confraternity, painted for the confraternity of Saint Anne.

He died in Vercelli in 1578.

Photo UniCredit Group (Sebastiano Pellion di Persano)