MONTAGNA, BARTOLOMMEO

born c. 1450, Brescia, Republic of Venice died Oct. 11, 1523, Vicenza Bartolommeo also spelled Bartolomeo early Renaissance Italian painter, the most eminent master of the school of Vicenza. Montagna may have been a pupil of Andrea Mantegna, by whom he was greatly influenced, but he more probably studied at Venice (where he was living in 1469) under the influence of Antonio Vivarini and Gentile Bellini. His most important work is probably the great altarpiece for San Michele at Vicenza (1499). The geometric stateliness of the composition reveals a deep knowledge of the work of Antonello da Messina. Montagna's late portraits, remarkable for their psychological incisiveness, show the influence of Lorenzo Lotto. Montagna founded a school of painting at Vicenza, which influenced, among others, Francesco da Ponte, the father of Jacopo Bassano. His son, Benedetto Montagna (14811558), imitated the style of his father in his paintings and was also a distinguished engraver.