Artist

Bonifacio Bembo

Portrait of Bonifacio Bembo
Portrait of Bonifacio Bembo

1420–1480

Bonifacio Bembo was an Early Renaissance artist. 4 works are cataloged here, principally at Pinacoteca di Brera. Bonifacio Bembo was born in Brescia.

Bonifacio Bembo, also known as Bonfazio Bembo, or simply just Bembo, was a northern Italian Renaissance artist born in Brescia in 1420. He was the son of Giovanni Bembo, an active painter during his time. As a painter, Bonifacio mainly worked in Cremona.

He was patronized by the Sforza family and was commissioned to paint portraits of Francesco Sforza and his wife Bianca Maria Visconti. Scholars have credited him as the artist who produced a tarot card deck for the Visconti-Sforza families, now held in the Cary Collection of Playing Cards at Yale University. In the past century, art historians have begun to question the authenticity of his works, believing his only two secure works to be the portraits of Francesco and Bianca Maria Sforza. He is believed to have died sometime before 1482.

Works by Bonifacio Bembo

Collections represented

Catalog records compiled from museum open-access collections; the artworks shown are in the public domain. Spotted an error in this record? Tell us.