Luini, Bernardino (bārnärdē`nō l

ē`nē), c.1480–1532, b. Luino, Italian painter, son of Giovanni Lutero. Among the extant works of his early years (before 1510) are a Pietà (Santa Maria della Passione, Milan) and Madonna and Child with St. John (National Gall., London), in the manner of the Lombard school. He soon came under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, whose style he echoed for the rest of his life. Thus his paintings, particularly of the Madonna, are characterized by a serenity and grace distilled from his master. Panels of the Madonna and Child are in the Brera, Milan; the Cincinnati Art Museum; and the Louvre. He executed many large works in towns near Milan: the altarpiece for the church at Legnano; frescoes for Santa Maria Miracoli at Saronno; the Crucifixion in Santa Maria degli Angioli, Lugano; and works in the cathedral at Como. These paintings are marked by an inventive quality, with enchanting landscape backgrounds filled with delightful details. Other works include Modesty and Vanity (San Diego) and a portrait and several mythological paintings (National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.).

Luini, Bernardino

(born c. 1480/85—died 1532, Milan) Italian painter active in Milan. Little is known of his life. His earliest surviving works are a polyptych in a church near Como (c. 1510) and a fresco, Madonna and Child (1512), at the Cistercian monastery of Chiravalle, near Milan. Working in the Renaissance style, he was a prominent follower of Leonardo da Vinci in Lombardy; many of Luini's frescoes and altarpieces are in Lombardy churches. He also painted mythological subjects, most notably a Europa and a Cephalus and Procris (c. 1520), originally for a Milanese palace.