Lorenzo Leonbruno (10 March 1489 – 1537), also known as Lorenzo de Leombeni, was an Italian painter during the early Renaissance period. He was born in Mantua (Mantova), an Italian commune in Lombardy, Italy. Leonbruno is most well known for being commissioned by the court of Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and his wife Isabella d'Este. The patronage continued with their eldest son Federico II Gonzaga, who was the fifth Marquis of Mantua. Leonbruno was the court painter for the Gonzaga family from 1506–24.
Leonbruno's most significant artistic commission was his decoration of the Camera Grande in the Gonzaga palace in Mantua, which was completed in 1523 for his patron Isabella d'Este.
Biography
Lorenzo Leonbruno was adopted by the Mantuan court painter Giovanni Luca de' Liombini, and was raised as Liombini's own son. Although there remains little extant documentation on his early life and artistic training, some of Leonbruno's early training is attributed to the workshop of Andrea Mantegna, who was a highly distinguished court painter for Lodovico Gonzaga and the Gonzaga family. Mantegna painted frescoes and portraits for the Gonzaga court in their palace at Mantua in the mid-late 15th century, as well as some interior paintings of the Palazzo di San Sebastiano. Leonbruno's training with Andrea Mantegna ended with Mantegna's death in 1506. After Mantegna's death, the Gongaza's selected several artists from his workshop to replace him as court artists, among them Lorenzo Costa the Elder, whom Leonbruno would train under, and later, Lorenzo Leonbruno. As a young artist, Leonbruno travelled around major artistic cities in Renaissance Italy; mainly Florence (1504-1506), Venice (1511), and Rome (1521). In 1504, Leonbruno was taken under the care of Isabella d'Este, who was one of Liombini and Lorenzo Costa the Elder's patrons. During the short period from 1504-1506, he was sent to Florence on d'Este's recommendation to work in the workshop of Pietro Perugino, since he was a young man and in the early stages of his artistic career. Leonbruno also trained under Lorenzo Costa in Mantua during the year 1508, who was a court painter for Lodovico Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este.
In 1512, Leonbruno returned to Mantua under the supervision and commission of Lorenzo Costa the Elder. He was assigned the task of painting interior rooms in the Palazzo di San Sebastiano; the favorite residence of Francesco II Gonzaga. For this project, Leonbruno worked alongside another Mantuan artist, Dosso Dossi.
In 1521, Leonbruno was sent to Rome by Federico II Gonzaga-the eldest son of Isabella d'Este- to study the works of Raphael and Michelangelo. Federico ordered the ambassador Baldassare Castiglione to look after Leonbruno during his visit. However, Castiglione held Raphael's lead pupil, Giulio Romano, in higher favor. Romano would soon replace Leonbruno as the Mantuan court painter for the Gonzaga family in 1524. As a result, Leonbruno remained in Rome for one month, and then returned to Mantua. Upon his return to Mantua, Leonbruno was commissioned by Federico Gonzaga to redecorate the interior rooms on the ground floor of Castello di San Georgio, one of the ducal palaces of the Gonzaga family. Following the tradition of Mantuan rulers, and after his accession to power in 1519, Federico had relocated to the apartments on the ground floor of Castello di San Georgio. He thus commissioned the court painter Leonbruno to redecorate his suite with his family's heraldry, symbols of power, and the Gonzaga family coat of arms. Leonbruno worked on this commission from 1521-1523. These works have since been destroyed.
Despite his large commissions to decorate the Gonzaga palaces, Leonbruno did not produce many works during his artistic career and only four of his signed works have survived. The most prominent of these signed works are the Adoration of the Shepherds c. 1505, and the Judgement of Midas, c. 1512-1514, with the signature located on the ground near the hand of the figure clad in a blue tunic. The others are the Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, and Saint Jerome Contemplating His Crucifix, although the date of creation remains unknown.