GIOVANNI BORGHESE o BORZESE Lot n° 88

(active between Ferrara and Bologna, news from 1523 to 1545) Lamentation Signed and dated at the base of the tomb: 1545 (I[0?] ORGHES... Oil on panel, 90X78 cm Mentioned by Malvasia as a pupil of Francesco Francia, Borghese is documented in Bologna in 1525 when he painted the frescoes in the Church of San Michele in Bosco together with Biagio Pupini and Girolamo da Carpi. The artist is in fact mentioned in the deed relating to the decoration of 'our sacristy, the whole vault, and the lunettes and the tribune and many adornments' and the artists involved are M. Biagio da Bologna, Giovanni Borzaro and Girolamo da Carpi. Biagio da Bologna, Giovanni Borzese and Gerolamo da Ferrara and these "all of them together and companions have taken it upon themselves to paint our sacristy; they must paint the three of them and not others or servants" and must have supplied the work for the whole of May 1526 (cf. A. Donati, Girolamo Marchesi da Cotignola, San Marino 2007, p. 161). As far as other biographical information is concerned, Luigi Lanzi in his Storia Pittorica mentions Borghese as being of Messina origin (see L. Lanzi (Storia pittorica della Italia. Tomo secondo. Parte Seconda, Bassano 1795 - 1796, p. 223), but no other historical indication and no other works are known to us apart from these mentioned, while his formal features show a Ferrara-Bolognese formation. The panel under examination is therefore a very important testimony for the catalogue and the critical definition of the artist. The painting is accompanied by a critical card by Andrej Bliznikov.