Dosso Dossi

Home > People > Literature and the Arts > European Art to 1599: Biographies

Dossi, Dosso ( Giovanni di Luteri) (b ?Ferrara, ?c.1490; d Ferrara, 1541/2). The outstanding painter of the Ferrarese School in the 16th century. His early life and training are obscure, but Vasari's assertion that he was born around 1474 is now thought unlikely. He is first recorded in 1512 in Mantua (the name ‘Dosso’ probably comes from a place near Mantua—he is not called ‘ Dosso Dossi’ until the 18th century). By 1514 he was in Ferrara, where he spent most of the rest of his career, collaborating with the poet Ariosto in devising entertainments, triumphs, tapestries, etc. for the Este court. Dosso painted various kinds of pictures—mythological and religious works, portraits, and decorative frescos—and he is perhaps most important for the part played in his work by landscape, in which he continued the romantic pastoral vein of Giorgione and Titian (he is documented in Venice in 1516 and 1518 and may well have made an earlier visit or visits). Dosso's work, however, has a personal quality of fantasy and an opulent sense of colour and texture that give it an individual stamp (Melissa, c.1523, Borghese Gal., Rome). His brother Battista Dossi (c.1497–1548) often collaborated with him (even though Vasari said they disliked each other), but there is insufficient evidence to know whether he made an individual contribution.

Dossi, Dosso ( Giovanni di Luteri) (c.1490?–1541/2). The outstanding painter of the Ferrarese School in the 16th century. His early life and training are obscure, but Vasari's assertion that he was born around 1474 is now thought unlikely. He is first recorded in 1512 in Mantua (the name ‘Dosso’ probably comes from a place near Mantua—he is not called ‘Dosso Dossi’ until the 18th century). By 1514 he was in Ferrara, where he spent most of the rest of his career, collaborating with the poet Ariosto in devising entertainments, triumphs, tapestries, etc. for the Este court. Dosso painted various kinds of pictures—mythological and religious works, portraits, and decorative frescos—and he is perhaps most important for the part played in his work by landscape, in which he continued the romantic pastoral vein of Giorgione and Titian (he is documented in Venice in 1516 and 1518 and may well have made an earlier visit or visits). Dosso's work, however, has a personal quality of fantasy and an opulent sense of colour and texture that give it an individual stamp (Melissa, c.1523, Borghese Gal., Rome). His brother Battista Dossi (c.1497–1548) often collaborated with him (even though Vasari said they disliked each other); there is insufficient evidence to know whether Battista made an individual contribution.

Dosso Dossi , 1479?–1542, Italian painter of the Ferrarese school, whose real name was Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri. He may have been a pupil of Lorenzo Costa, but was certainly influenced by Giorgione, Titian, and Raphael. He often collaborated with his brother Battista, a landscape painter. Dosso Dossi is first recorded in Mantua, but after 1514 he executed many decorative works for the ducal palace and churches of Ferrara, including frescoes, pictures, and cartoons for tapestries. Both his landscapes and portraits show originality and imagination. He was a friend of Ariosto, who mentions him in Orlando Furioso. His works include Circe in the Woods (Borghese Villa); The Three Ages of Man (Metropolitan Mus.); The Standard Bearer, Scene from a Legend, and Saint Lucretia (National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.).

Bibliography: See F. Gibbons, Dosso and Battista Dossi (1968).