Bartolomeo Caporali

Bartolomeo (di Segnolo) Caporali (Perugia, c. 1420 – Perugia, c. 1503–1505) was an Italian painter and miniaturist in Perugia, Umbria during the early Renaissance period. His style was influenced by Umbrian artists Gozzoli and Boccati, two of his first mentors, and continued to evolve as younger Umbrian artists came onto the scene, such as Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Perugino and Pinturicchio. Although primarily a painter, he is also known for executing missals, restoration work, gilding, armorials, banners and celebratory decorations, which speaks to his decorative, detail-oriented artistic style. His father was a highly trained soldier and fully armored cavalryman as a “man-at-arms”. Caporali married Brigida di Giovanni Cartolari before 1480 and together they had seven children: three daughters, Candida, Lucrezia, and Laura and four sons, Giovanni, who was also a painter, Ser Camillo, Giampaolo, and Eusebio. According to housing records, he lived in a house in the vicinity of San Martino in Perugia in 1456, which he co-owned with his brother Giapeco.

In addition to being an artist, Caporali was also highly involved in the politics of Perugia. He was prior of his town, camerlingo to the Company of Illuminators, was elected captain of the people and held leadership positions in the Umbria Painters Guild multiple times throughout his career. His opinion was highly valued in the art community, as he was frequently called upon to estimate the value of other artists’ works. He was known to have an extremely even emotional temperament, and in one instance is described as being “phlegmatic”. From this point forward Bartolomeo received many commissions and expanded his network by collaborating on projects with celebrated artists such as Giapeco, Boccati and Bonfigli. His willingness to collaborate as well as master new techniques and skills in order to reach broader markets speaks to his talent as a networker and businessman. However, most works of this early period in his career are not documented, and it is difficult to pinpoint with whom he collaborated with on the work that can be identified as his.

However, few documented works of lesser-known Renaissance artists like Caporali's survive. As a result, there has been a tendency to grant attributions around the few recognizable artistic personalities of the period, when in fact they could belong to lesser-known masters such as Caporali. In the case of Caporali, one paper claims that the Giustizia triptych and the National Gallery altarpiece are likely his work and Sante di Apollonio, instead of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo's, to whom it is currently attributed. It would reveal the use of ideas from Paduan and Marchigian sources within pictorial structures that reference the work of Benozzo Gozzoli, combined with a determined effort to master the style of Perugino. Its significance is that there may be more works of art during this period attributed to the greats that may belong to lesser-known Renaissance painters.

Major works Virgin and Child Between Two Praying Angels, 1450, private collection in France Enthroned Madonna and Child with Four Angels, 1450, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy Annunciation, a triptych co-painted with Bonfigli (1467–1468), San Domenico (St. Dominic) Church, Perugia Maesta and a Pieta, ~1460, Palazzo dei Priori in the Udienza dei Calzolari Assumption of the Virgin, 1469 Saint Francis of Assisi, Herculan, Luke and James the Greater, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Virgin, Child and Angels (1477-1479), National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia Virgin and Child With Six Angels, 1477–1479, National Gallery of Umbria Crucifix (1460-1470), San Michele Arcangelo The Angel of the Annunciation and The Virgin Annunciate (1460-1470), Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia Adoration of the Shepherds (1477–79) Gonfalon with the Madonna of Mercy and Saints (1482), Museo di San Francesco, Montone Madonna and Saints (1487) for the church of Santa Maria Maddalena at Castiglione del Lago The Virgin and Child Between Two Praying Angels Pietà (1486), cathédrale de Pérouse Sylvestrine Monk and a Lay Brother Caporali Missal, 1469, Perugia, Cleveland Museum of Art

Literature Fliegel, Stephen (2013.) The Caporali Missal. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art and DelMonico Books. Bury, Michael. “Bartolomeo Caporali: A New Document and Its Implications.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 132, no. 1048, 1990, pp. 469–475., www.jstor.org/stable/884276. P. Scarpellini. "Caporali." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 21 Feb. 2017 Stanley Lothrop. “Bartolomeo Caporali.” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, vol. 1, 1915, pp. 87–102. Van Marle, Raimond. "The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting: Volume XIV." (1933). Sarti, G (2000.) Early and Mannerist Paintings in Italy (1370–1570). Paris, France: G Sarti Antiques Ltd. Artfact,