In her Faith, Hope & Love series

Deborah Lanino filters Renaissance subject matter through a contemporary lens

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Renaissance Reminiscence

"This is a project and a work in progress, that I have wanted to do since graduating from Pratt Institute, when I also studied a semester abroad at SACI in Florence, Italy and saw the exhibition of Bernardino in Vercelli. (catalog is pictured)  These works are now emerging in abstract and impressionistic paintings inspired by themes such as Faith, Hope and Love that reflect a contemporary view of traditional subject matter seen in Renaissance art. I use techniques such as chiaroscuro (lights and darks) and sfumato (blurring the edges) with a soft misty style, much like my direct ancestor Bernardino Lanino (1512-1582) Vercelli, Italy." -Deborah Lanino

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Bernardino Lanino - 1512- 1583

After training locally with a little-known artist, Bernardino Lanino was associated with Vercelli's most important painter from 1530. Three years later he had already reached the rank of master painter. His early work displays his teacher's gentle figure style and delicate effects, but Lanino added his own soft, misty brushstrokes. After his teacher left to establish himself in Milan, Lanino became the region's leading painter. Between 1540 and 1560, Lanino made several visits to Milan, creating altarpieces and frescoes. There he absorbed the strong influence of Leonardo da Vinci's chiaroscuro. During this period Lanino made many of his finest drawings, creating startling chiaroscuro effects using black chalk and white bodycolor heightening on brown prepared paper. He often used pen and wash with white highlights in his accomplished compositional studies. Throughout the 1560s and 1570s, patrons eagerly sought Lanino's paintings, and his workshop was amazingly prolific. Examples of his soft style spread throughout the eastern Piedmont and Milan, and his sons also became painters in Vercelli. (The Getty Center)

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