PSEUDO-BOCCACCINO. — Name created by critics to designate an unknown Lombard painter, whose only dated work, from 1500, is the Lavanda dei piedi, in the Accademia of Venice (no. 599).
From this work, first attributed to Boccaccio Boccaccino (O. Mündler, Cavalcaselle, Morelli), Bode took the starting point for establishing a separate group of works, independent of Boccaccino, and for the creation of a distinct artistic personality. Among the attributed works, the most important are: in Bribano (a hamlet of Sedico, Belluno), S. Niccolò; Madonna col Bambino, s. Rocco e s. Nicola; in Milan, Brera: Adorazione dei Magi (no. 317); Bottesimo di Cristo (in collaboration with Marco d'Oggiono (no. 318); Madonna e Angeli (no. 789); SS. Pietro e Giovanni Apostolo, signed Iohes Augustinus Laudesi P. (according to Suida, a copy of an original by P. B.); also in Milan, Countess del Majno Soranzo, Testa di giovanetta; there, Duke Gallarati Scotti, Santa Martire; there, Guido Cagnola, Madonna con un angelo; there, the Albertini collection (formerly the Gall. Crespi), Madonna con il Bambino; Modena, Gall. Estense, Madonna e s. Sebastiano in un paesaggio (no. 490); Murano, church of S. Pietro Martire, Madonna in trono con santi; Venice, Accademia, besides the aforementioned Lavanda dei piedi, Madonna con s. Simeone e s. Girolamo (no. 605) and Cristo tra i Dottori (no. 598); church of S. Stefano, sacristy, Madonna con s. Caterina e un donatore; church of S. Lazzaro degli Armeni, Madonna; Verona, Museo, S. Marta e Maria Maddalena. Examination of the works reveals the painter’s position between Lombardy and the Veneto, which had given rise to the confusion with Boccaccino.
An attempt has been made to identify the anonymous painter with that Giovanni Agostino da Lodi who signed the small painting with the SS. Pietro e Giovanni, now in Brera and mentioned above, an opinion that is generally accepted. Suida, on the other hand, considers the Brera painting a replica; while leaving the question unresolved, he favors the name Andrea di Appiano, traditionally associated with two works attributed to P.-B., preserved in Brera and originating from the Milanese church of S. Maria della Pace. Another interesting question concerns the attribution, in the Venetian tradition, of many of our painter’s works to a painter called «Perugino».