The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (69 page)
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Authors: Ian Chilvers
Boydell , John
(1719–1804).
English engraver and print publisher. He made a fortune in the 1740s by publishing views of England and Wales, which he engraved from his own drawings. Later he published the work of other engravers and by developing a large foreign trade spread the fame of English artists and engravers on the Continent. In 1790 he was Lord Mayor of London. His most ambitious undertaking was the celebrated Shakespeare Gallery: from 1786 he commissioned from major artists (including
Fuseli
,
Reynolds
, and
Romney
) 162 oil paintings illustrating Shakespeare's plays, exhibiting them in a purpose-built gallery in Pall Mall, opened in 1789. The engravings after them were published as illustrations to a nine-volume edition of Shakespeare in 1802 and separately in 1803. Boydell hoped by this venture to encourage the rise of a ‘great national school of
history painting
’, and he intended to leave the collection to the nation, but he had heavy losses during the French wars and it was sold by lottery in 1804 shortly after his death. Boydell's nephew,
Josiah Boydell
(1752–1817), was a painter and engraver, his uncle's partner and successor in his engraving business.
English engraver and print publisher. He made a fortune in the 1740s by publishing views of England and Wales, which he engraved from his own drawings. Later he published the work of other engravers and by developing a large foreign trade spread the fame of English artists and engravers on the Continent. In 1790 he was Lord Mayor of London. His most ambitious undertaking was the celebrated Shakespeare Gallery: from 1786 he commissioned from major artists (including
Fuseli
,
Reynolds
, and
Romney
) 162 oil paintings illustrating Shakespeare's plays, exhibiting them in a purpose-built gallery in Pall Mall, opened in 1789. The engravings after them were published as illustrations to a nine-volume edition of Shakespeare in 1802 and separately in 1803. Boydell hoped by this venture to encourage the rise of a ‘great national school of
history painting
’, and he intended to leave the collection to the nation, but he had heavy losses during the French wars and it was sold by lottery in 1804 shortly after his death. Boydell's nephew,
Josiah Boydell
(1752–1817), was a painter and engraver, his uncle's partner and successor in his engraving business.
Boys , Thomas Shotter
(1803–74).
English watercolour painter and lithographer. For some time he lived in France, where he was a friend of
Bonington
, but he settled in England in 1837. He specialized in continental urban scenes and in 1839 he published
Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen, etc.
, a work which marked the transition from hand-tinted
lithography
to chromolithography. In 1842 he published
Original Views of London as it is
, the plates of which constitute a fine topographical record of Regency London.
English watercolour painter and lithographer. For some time he lived in France, where he was a friend of
Bonington
, but he settled in England in 1837. He specialized in continental urban scenes and in 1839 he published
Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen, etc.
, a work which marked the transition from hand-tinted
lithography
to chromolithography. In 1842 he published
Original Views of London as it is
, the plates of which constitute a fine topographical record of Regency London.
bozzetto
.
.
Italian term for a sculptor's small-scale model, usually in wax or clay, for a larger work in more durable material. The term is sometimes also applied to a painted sketch.
Bramante , Donato
(Donato di Angelo )
(Donato di Angelo )
(1444–1514).
Italian architect and painter. Bramante was the creator and greatest exponent of the High
Renaissance
style in architecture, but most of his early career, which is ill-documented, seems to have been devoted to painting. He probably trained in Urbino and is first documented in 1477 working on fresco decorations at the Palazzo del Podestà in Bergamo. In about 1480 he settled in Milan, and in 1481 produced his earliest surviving dated work, the design of an engraving of an elaborate architectural fantasy (the British Museum, London, possesses one of only two known impressions). At about the same time he began his first building, Sta Maria presso S. Satiro, Milan, in which his knowledge of
perspective
was used to create an illusion of recession in the choir, which is in reality only a few inches deep. His only certain surviving paintings are poorly preserved frescos of armed men (
c.
1480–5) in the Brera, Milan, which also houses the finest painting attributed to him (on the testimony of
Lomazzo
), a sombre and poignant
Christ at the Column
, which shows some influence from his friend
Leonardo
. In 1499 Bramante left Milan for Rome, where in 1506 he began the rebuilding of St Peter's. There is no evidence of any activity as a painter in Rome, but
Vasari
says that Bramante designed the majestic architectural setting of
Raphael's
fresco
The School of Athens
in the Vatican Stanze. Certainly Raphael paid tribute to Bramante by introducing his portrait into this painting as the mathematician Euclid. Bramante had an enormous influence as an architect, and his interest in perspective and
trompe-l'œil
left a mark on Milanese painting, notably in the work of his follower
Bramantino
.
Italian architect and painter. Bramante was the creator and greatest exponent of the High
Renaissance
style in architecture, but most of his early career, which is ill-documented, seems to have been devoted to painting. He probably trained in Urbino and is first documented in 1477 working on fresco decorations at the Palazzo del Podestà in Bergamo. In about 1480 he settled in Milan, and in 1481 produced his earliest surviving dated work, the design of an engraving of an elaborate architectural fantasy (the British Museum, London, possesses one of only two known impressions). At about the same time he began his first building, Sta Maria presso S. Satiro, Milan, in which his knowledge of
perspective
was used to create an illusion of recession in the choir, which is in reality only a few inches deep. His only certain surviving paintings are poorly preserved frescos of armed men (
c.
1480–5) in the Brera, Milan, which also houses the finest painting attributed to him (on the testimony of
Lomazzo
), a sombre and poignant
Christ at the Column
, which shows some influence from his friend
Leonardo
. In 1499 Bramante left Milan for Rome, where in 1506 he began the rebuilding of St Peter's. There is no evidence of any activity as a painter in Rome, but
Vasari
says that Bramante designed the majestic architectural setting of
Raphael's
fresco
The School of Athens
in the Vatican Stanze. Certainly Raphael paid tribute to Bramante by introducing his portrait into this painting as the mathematician Euclid. Bramante had an enormous influence as an architect, and his interest in perspective and
trompe-l'œil
left a mark on Milanese painting, notably in the work of his follower
Bramantino
.
Bramantino
(Bartolomeo Suardi )
(Bartolomeo Suardi )
(
c.
1460–1530).
Milanese painter and architect, a follower of
Bramante
, from whom he takes his nickname. He was appointed court painter and architect to Duke Francesco II
Sforza
in 1525. His style as a painter is complex and eclectic, drawing on
Piero della Francesca
and
Leonardo
as well as Bramante; at its best is has a certain stolid dignity. Perhaps his most individual characteristic is his use of sombre classical architectural backgrounds, as in
The Adoration of the Magi
(NG, London).
c.
1460–1530).
Milanese painter and architect, a follower of
Bramante
, from whom he takes his nickname. He was appointed court painter and architect to Duke Francesco II
Sforza
in 1525. His style as a painter is complex and eclectic, drawing on
Piero della Francesca
and
Leonardo
as well as Bramante; at its best is has a certain stolid dignity. Perhaps his most individual characteristic is his use of sombre classical architectural backgrounds, as in
The Adoration of the Magi
(NG, London).
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