FERRARI (DE FERRARI), DEFENDENTE. - Piedmontese painter of the 16th century, whose works are known from 1500 (Assumption, Budapest Museum) to 1535 (triptych of Saints Crispino and Crispiniano, Avigliana, S. Giovanni). In a document he is said to have been a native of Chivasso (“Defendente de Ferraris de Clavaxio”), and from his earliest works his figurative descent from Martino Spanzotti, whose pupil he must be considered, is evident.
Indeed, some of his youthful works were variously attributed to Spanzotti and to F.; such as the Baptism of Christ (Turin, sacristy of the Cathedral) and the Adoration of the Magi (Florence, Contini collection). From his earliest works, elements of Franco-Flemish taste are present upon the foundation of the Lombard-Spanzottian tradition.
Around 1510 northern motifs became more pronounced (Nocturnal Nativity, Civic Museum of Turin), with analogies that have suggested connections with some late painter of the Cologne school. Around 1520-30 Mannerism entered F.’s art, harmonizing with Franco-Flemish taste; finally, in his last works, the artist repeated himself and exhausted his pictorial vein.
FERRARI, DEFENDENTE - Marriage of the Virgin - Turin, Museum of Modern Art.
The style of F. is essentially that of a narrator who loves the chromatic life of precious surfaces, in the decorative richness of fabrics and costumes. He appears archaic, yet he expresses himself with a personal language, often achieving freshness and sincerity.
Among his principal works are: the triptych of Avigliana (Nativity, etc., 1511); the Madonna of Mercy (1519; Cirie, S. Giovanni); the Adoration of the Child with St. Veremondo (1521; Ivrea, Cathedral); the Marriage of the Virgin (Turin, Civic Museum); the Madonna with Child, St. Joseph, and Angels (Baltimore, Walters Gallery); the choir with 20 painted panels (Biella, Convent of S. Girolamo, 1523); the polyptych of S. Antonio di Ranverso in Buttigliera Alta (1551).