FRANCIA, RAIBOLINI FRANCESCO, called il. – Painter, b. in Bologna ca. 1460, d. there on 5 January 1517. He is the best-known and most prolific of the Bolognese painters in the so-called Bentivoglio period; but his figure as an artist, devoutly inclined toward gentle and pensive forms of expression, has acquired more than merely provincial importance.
F. began his career as a highly skilled goldsmith, as attested by the two Paci nellate in the Pinacoteca of his native city, and this artisan origin is confirmed by the Crocifissione con s. Cordoma, in the local Museo civico, which must be regarded as one of his earliest works, still within the orbit of the Ferrarese school. Later, although continuing to execute goldsmiths’ work, F. became the official painter of the Bolognese court, undergoing some influence from Perugino and the Vivarini, and to a greater extent from the Ferrarese painter Lorenzo Costa, who in turn imitated his calligraphic ornamental preciosities. Among his numerous works, the following stand out for their lucid harmony of rhythms or their richness of lively but not garish enamels: in Bologna, the Madonna in trono e santi (1494) in the Pinacoteca, the other Madonna (1499) in the Bentivoglio Chapel at S. Giacomo Maggiore, and the two most chaste fresco scenes, the Spocalizio and the Funeral di 1. Cecilia (1506), in the Oratorio of the same name; in London, the lunette of the Pietà in the National Gallery; in Rome, the S. Stefano orante, in the Galleria Borghese, and the small, delightful S. Giorgio, in the National Gallery, formerly Corsini. Having become affected in the final years of his activity, F. was already more than surpassed when he died, leaving a considerable number of followers, among whom, alongside the best, Timoteo della Vite da Urbino, were his sons Giacomo (b. about 1486 and d. in 1557) and Giulio (b. in 1487 and d. in 1540), mediocre painters. – Vedi tav. CXII.