Bernardino Butinone

Who was Bernardino Butinone?

Bernardino Butinone was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly around Milan.

Born in Treviglio, Lombardy, he was the son of Jacopo da Treviglio, and also known as Bernardo da Treviglio.

A pupil of Vincenzo Foppa, he was tutor of Bramantino and collaborated with Bernardo Zenale. Others claimed he trained with Vincenzo Civerchio, with whom he worked in Milan. From 1491 to 1493 they executed the vault of the Grifi Chapel in San Pietro in Gessate in Milan. Their masterwork is the polyptych of San Martino in Treviglio, universally considered the most important work of the 15th-century art in Lombardy, which was commissioned in 1485.

Butinone's most appealing works are a series of small panels he painted depicting the life of Christ, which are now dispersed in various collections. These include the Adoration of the Shepherds, Adoration of the Magi, Massacre of the Innocents, Flight into Egypt and Deposition, Christ among the Doctors, and Supper at Bethany.