LANINO, Bernardino

Italian painter and draughtsman. In 1528 Lanino was apprenticed to Baldassarre de Cadighis of Abbiategrasso in Vercelli, but from 1530 he was associated with Gaudenzio Ferrari, then the most important painter in Vercelli. Lomazzo claimed that Lanino was Gaudenzio's pupil. By 18 November 1533 he was already a master painter. His early works, such as the Virgin and Child with Saints (Turin, Galleria Sabauda), painted for S Eusebio, Ternengo, show how he had assimilated Gaudenzio's delicate effects, and interpreted them in soft, misty brushstrokes. After Gaudenzio moved to Lombardy (c. 1534) and later established himself in Milan (c. 1539-46), Lanino became the most active painter in the region; from this period date the Virgin and Child with Saints (1539), painted for SS Pietro e Paolo, Borgosesia (in situ), and Virgin and Child with Saints (1543; London, National GalleryGLOSSARYan upper story, similar to a tribune, running along the side of a building and open on one side to the interior; in a church (basilica) above the side aisles, over the ambulatory (central-plan building) and also over the west end. The gallery was used to keep certain groups of worshippers apart (women, noblemen).), painted for Francesco Strata's chapelGLOSSARYa small separate place for worship, either part of a large church or a separate building. in S Paolo, Vercelli. Other altarpieces of this date include the Assumption of the Virgin (signed and dated 1543; Biella, S Sebastiano) and frescoes of scenes from the Life of the Virgin in Novara CathedralGLOSSARYThe principal church of a province or diocese, where the throne of the bishop is placed. For reasons lost to time and tradition, a cathedral always faces west - toward the setting sun. The altar is placed at the east end. The main body, or nave, of the cathedral is usually divided into one main and two side aisles. These lead up to the north and south transepts, or arms of the cross, the shape in which a cathedral is usually formed. (1546-53).

Between 1540 and 1560, Lanino made several visits to Milan, creating altarpieces and frescoes. There he absorbed the strong influence of Leonardo da Vinci's chiaroscuroGLOSSARYIn painting, the modelling of form (the creation of a sense of three-dimensionality in objects) through the use of light and shade. The introduction of oil paints in the 15th century, replacing tempera, encouraged the development of chiaroscuro, for oil paint allowed a far greater range and control of tone. The term chiaroscuro is used in particular for the dramatic contrasts of light and dark introduced by Caravaggio. When the contrast of light and dark is strong, chiaroscuro becomes an important element of composition.. During this period Lanino made many of his finest drawings, creating startling chiaroscuro effects using black chalk and white bodycolor heightening on brown prepared paper. He often used pen and wash with white highlights in his accomplished compositional studies.

Throughout the 1560s and 1570s, patrons eagerly sought Lanino's paintings, and his workshop was amazingly prolific. Examples of his soft styleGLOSSARYA name given to the style found principally in Germany (where it is called Weiche Stil), at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries. It is very closely related to International Gothic, and, as the name implies, is characterized by soft and gentle rhythms, especially in the flow of drapery, and by a sweet and playful sentiment. The principal subject is the Madonna playing with the Christ Child and these are sometimes called Schöne Madonnen - 'Beautiful Madonnas'. Sculpture and the earliest woodcuts show the style even more clearly than painting. spread throughout the eastern Piedmont and Milan, and his sons also became painters in Vercelli.