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| He was probably also educated in Parenzo, Istria, where he studied antique inscriptions. From Parenzo he probably moved to the political and cultural capital of the region, Capodistria. Here, during what appears to have been a prolonged stay, he was able to study other inscriptions and to indulge his passion for antiquity. During this early period he may have been in contact with Giorgio Schiavone, possibly at Zara, as well as with other Dalmatian artists from the group around Francesco Squarcione, for example Marinello da Spalato
of the second half of the 15th century. (Source: Billanovich, 1981.)
In 1496 he was appointed to the Gonzaga Courtin Mantua (including the
decoration of the Studiolo of Isabella d'Este). The style of this painter of Istrian origin is highly unusual. Active in Mantua and Padua (though he cannot be identified with the monk and prophet of the same name [1437-1531] and also known as Fra Lorenzo, as was once thought), his work reveals the influence of Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), one of the foremost north Italian painters of the 15th century who was a master of perspective and foreshortening. Mantegna made important contributions to the compositional techniques of Renaissance painting.together with some elements drawn from Ferrarese painting. The works of Parenzano is characterized by a care for detail, perhaps exaggerated, and by miniaturistic tendencies in a Northern European manner that find expression in a crystalline and metallic lincarity. The angular, skeletal landscape, bathed in a leaden light and ruthlessly cleared so that it looks devastated, creates a sense of anguish in its snapshot-like fixity, as if the events were taking place in a human terrarium from which all the air has been evacuated. There are three panels in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj illustrating the life of St. Anthony Abbot (251-356), the founder of monasticism, as recounted in the 4th century in St. Athanasius's popular book. Two of the panels hang in the private apartments and one is on show in the Gallery (illustrated here). Panel 1 has an old inscription on the back: DEC. ORA. PRI, which can perhaps be interpreted as Decet Oratio Principem (i.e.: Prayer Suits the Prince). It illustrates how Anthony, after the death of his parents and at the age of between eighteen and twenty, "sold... all the other goods and chattels he possessed and distributed the large sum of money he obtained to the poor." Panel 2 is devoted to the temptations of the saint. The trees have lost their leaves, and their black, rigid trunks, slender marks against the luminous sky, look like etchings against the dark walls of the mountains. On the broken ground, the devil first tries to lure Anthony away from his spiritual exercises by conjuring up memories of riches, desire for money, vainglory, and the pleasures of the palate: he then appears on the desert road, concealed in an enortnous silver vase, an episode that had never been depicted before and is here combined with the previous one.
Panel 3 of the predella, the great and terrible power of Evil is revealed with the worst characteristics of the human race, in all its innate repulsiveness and horrifying folly. Exorcisers appear on the rock, in the form of skulls, and Satan is transformed into malignant shapes and ferocious beasts. However, a ray of light descends toward Anthony and a voice declares: "I was here, Anthony, but I wished to see your struggle, and since you have withstood and have not been defeated, I shall always succor you". This is the moral of the cycle. We do not know whether it is complete or whether other elements are missing, such as the leave-taking of his sister, the erotie visions, or the meeting with Paul. The Temptations of Saint Anthony, a theme that has fascinated artists from Bosch to Griinewald, Schongauer, and Flaubert, is cited as the work of Mantegna in the fidei commissary list of 1819, while it was recorded, along with the other two parts, in an inventory of the palace in Piazza Navona drawn up on the death of Camillo Pamphilj in 1666. Because of their style the three pictures by Parenzano can be dated to the same period as the Paduan frescoes in Santa Giustinia, painted around 1494 (the painter lived in the monastero 1492- 96). It is interesting to think that these Temptations set amidst arid ground, surrounded by chimeras and monsters, may have been painted in the same year as the discovery of the "New World." Note: Some of his works are confused with those of Fra Lorenzo (aka Bernardo Parentino) as noted in the following: Parentino (da Parenzo) Lorenzo (1437 + 1531). Al secolo Bernardo. Frate a Vicenza, ove morì. Chi lo vuole allievo del Mantegna in Padova, (ove lavorò molto), chi dello Squarcione, del quale ad ogni modo mostra di seguire la maniera nelle dieci Storie di S. Benedetto (ora perite) nel chiostro di S. Giustina a Padova, firmate e datate 1489 e 1494. Alla galleria di Venezia ha una Annunziata e l'Angelo Gabriele, e Gesù in Croce; in quella di Padova gli Argonauti; alla Borromeo di Milano le Amazzoni; nella prima sacristia del duomo di Padova una Madonna con S. Giovanni (attribuzione). Ha pure un quadro a Vienna. Alla galleria Doria Pamphili di Roma (Sal. I, 140) le Tentazioni di S. Antonio, che pare fatto di vetro filato. Il suo Gruppo di musicanti (tela 33x51) del museo di Berlino lo dice specialista in pittura musicale dalla maniera secca e tagliente derivata dal grande mantovano. Other works: (In the absence of information by an informed source, it is uncertain as to which of the following is attributable to which artist):
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ernardino
Parenzano, the painter, is known under various names, most
notably Bernardino Parentino. He is also called Bernardo da Parenzo, Bernardino Pareçan and
Bernardo Parenzano. He was born in Parenzo (Pazin) ca. 1450, Parenzo and
died in Vicenza ca. 1500.
