Defendente Ferrari

Defendente Ferrari ( 1480/1485 in Piedmont – 1540 in Turin) was an Italian painter active in Piedmont. His work marks the transition from late Gothic traditions to Renaissance art in the region, active at the beginning of the sixteenth century in Piedmont.

Ferrari was born at Chivasso, near Turin, and worked in the workshop of Giovanni Martino Spanzotti.
He met considerable success as a painter of polyptychs and altarpieces, characterized by a highly decorative style inspired by Northern Europe masters. Spanzotti had been the pre-eminent painter in western Piedmont after moving to Chivasso c. 1502. Many works previously thought to have been by Spanzotti are now attributed to Defendente.

With his master, he collaborated in the Polyptych of the Cathedral of Turin, illustrating the History of the saints Crispin and Crispinien, realized in 1507.

Among his very first works, still inspired by his master, marked by international Gothic, is the Adoration of the Magi from the Sabauda Gallery.

Around 1508, he painted The Nativity of the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge (Massachusetts), a witness to close contacts with Flemish painting.

Defendente achieved considerable success as a painter of polyptychs and altarpieces. He painted a number of nocturnal scenes such as the Nativity in Nocturnal Light (1510, Museo Civico d’Arte Antica di Torino).

His first work is dated 1510, it is the Night Nativity of the Museo Civico of Arte Antica of Turin, followed by the triptych of Avigliana of 1511.

During the years 1510-520 its production is marked, more and more insistently by German influences and more particularly by Albrecht Dürer. A singular replica of Raphael’s Madonna of Orleans dates back to 1526. In the last phase of his career, he executed the polyptychs for Ranverso and Bianzé (Vercelli).

He left a number of signed and dated works. His work developed away from its initial harsh style following Gothic traditions towards the use of more fluid brushstrokes and the creation of soft, dense highlights more in line with Renaissance painting. His style seems to indicate that he may have known the work of northern European artists such as Rogier van der Weyden, while his later work shows the influence of Macrino d’Alba.

Gerolamo Giovenone was one of his pupils.