The High Renaissance
 
&

Mannerism
        

 
Moretto
 

Moretto da Brescia

(b Brescia, c. 1498; d Brescia, between 9 Nov and 22 Dec 1554).

Italian painter. Together with Romanino and Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, he was one of the most distinguished painters of Brescia of the 16th century. Influenced by both Lombard verism and contemporary Venetian painters, Moretto created an individual style in which realism and Venetian light and colour were perfectly balanced. He was personally involved in the local movement of Roman Catholic reform, and this is reflected in his direct, solemn and often moving depictions of religious subjects. He was also an innovative portrait painter.

St Justina with the Unicorn
c. 1530
Wood, 200 x 139 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
 

Count Sciarra Martinengo Cesaresco
1516-18
Oil on canvas, 114 x 94 cm
National Gallery, London