Lorenzo Leonbruno Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Lorenzo Leonbruno was probably born in Mantua in June 1477. He was the adopted son of the painter Giovanni Luca de Liombeni. Read the full biography

Lorenzo Leonbruno was probably born in Mantua in June 1477. He was the adopted son of the painter Giovanni Luca de Liombeni. Although there are numerous documents that attest to his activity in the period from 1499 to 1533, there is only news of one work that has been dated with certainty, namely the decoration of the Scalcheria room in the "widow's" apartment of Isabella d 'Este in the old courtyard of the Ducal Palace in Mantua. Starting from 9 September 1521, Leonbruno worked on the decoration of Frederick II's apartment located on the ground floor of the castle of San Giorgio. His career suffered a crisis at the hands of Giulio Romano, as demonstrated by a letter confirming his dismissal from the decoration of the loggia of the Gonzaga residence in Marmirolo, and a period of relative disgrace began in which Leonbruno was mostly employed as a military engineer. The precise date of his death is not known, although some documents known to 19th-century scholars report his registration in the registers of Gonzaga employees until 1537, a date that can be accepted, albeit with caution, as the date of death.