Giovanni Francesco Caroto

Giovanni Francesco Caroto was a painter from Verona who absorbed ideas from many directions: Mantegna, Leonardo, Raphael and Flemish painters all show up in his work. His portraits and devotional pictures are clear and lively, with a natural touch.

He was born in Verona around 1480 and trained with Liberale da Verona. He worked in Milan and Mantua and for several years at Casale Monferrato as court painter to the Marquis of Montferrat, before returning to Verona. His best-known picture is the Red-Headed Youth Holding a Drawing in the Castelvecchio Museum, an early and very direct portrait of a child. Giorgio Vasari praised his Mary and the Saints of 1528. The Uffizi and the Galleria Estense in Modena also hold his work. He died in Verona in 1555.

In his portraits, look at the directness of the expressions, a quality that still feels modern.