Zanetto Bugatto

Zanetto Bugatto ( Milan 1433- Pavia or Milan ~1476), also known as Zanetto Bugatti, was one of the most well documented court portraitists of the 1400s. A key painter of the Lombardy region, Bugatto worked for 15 years for the first two Sforza Dukes of Milan, particularly Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza and his Duchess Bona of Savoy. His work was influenced by artists such as Rogier van der Weyden, Andrea Mantegna, and Jean Fouquet, all of whom he met during his travels. Bugatto’s work was described by Galeazzo’s ambassador Leonardo Botta as being similar to Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina. It is not clear whether Bugatto painted works other than portraits which he typically made on panel and in fresco. He is notable for being one of the first Italian artists, along with Antonello da Messina, to focus on portraiture in the Netherlandish style to such an exclusive extent.

Bugatto is credited with establishing the official likenesses of Galeazzo Sforza and his wife Bona of Savoy through several portraits, medals, and coins. Though he has no surviving signed or directly accredited works, the unusual level of documentation from Bugatto’s commissions with the Sforza have allowed art historians to attribute to Bugatto the ducal Portrait of Galeazzo Maria Sforza in the Castello Sforzesco (pictured at right). There is some debate over whether the 1467 ducat coins of Galeazzo Maria Sforza may also be Bugatto's work. Several other surviving works are argued to be either direct copies or heavily influenced by Bugatto’s works. No surviving portraits or images of Zanetto Bugatto himself are known to exist.

Born in Milan in 1433, little is known about Zanetto Bugatto’s early life and childhood. The first documentation of Bugatto’s work are records in the Milan Cathedral’s account-books for a small commission for a procession in 1458. In 1460 Bugatto painted his first commission for the Milan court, a portrait of Ippolita Sforza, the eldest daughter of his patrons Francesco and Bianca Maria Sforza, who was considered marriageable and needed a portrait to be sent to her potential husband. After this work Bugatto was sent to Brussels from December 26, 1460 to May 1463 to study under Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden. Bugatto was given a stipend to work also for Phillip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.

After his return to Milan Bugatto began to work more for his patron Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the son of Bianca Maria and new Duke with Bianca Maria as regent. Zanetto’s commissions begin to  reflect the wide array of contracts expected from a court portraitist of the time. Bugatto worked not only as a painter but as a designer of medals and coins, including designing the portraiture used on ducats with Duke Galeazzo and regent Bianca. In particular, Bugatto is arguably credited with designing or overseeing the official image of Galeazzo in 1467 for a new series of ducats which were to have only the Duke in preparation for his investiture.

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