giovanni girolamo savoldo (1480 - 1540)
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo was an Italian High Renaissance painter active mostly in Venice, although he also worked in other cities in northern Italy. He is noted for his subtle use of color and chiaroscuro, and for the sober realism of his works, which are mostly religious subjects, with a few portraits. His portraits are given interest by their accessories or settings; "some even look like extracts from larger narratives".
About 40 paintings by Savoldo are known in all, six of them portraits; only a handful of drawings by him are known. He was highly regarded in his own lifetime; several repetitions of works were commissioned from him, and copies of his work made by others. He slipped from general awareness, however, and many of his works were assigned to more famous artists, especially Giorgione, by the art trade. Awareness of his oeuvre revived in the 19th century, though the dating of many paintings remains controversial among specialists.
