Page "Dosso Dossi" Paragraph 1

Dossi was born in San Giovanni del Dosso, a village in the province of Mantua.

His early training and life is not well documented ; his father, originally of Trento, was a bursar ( spenditore or fattore ) for the Dukes of Ferrara.

He may have had training locally with Lorenzo Costa or in Mantua, where he is known to have been in 1512.

By 1514, he would begin three decades of service for dukes Alfonso I and Ercole II d ' Este, becoming principal court artist.

Dosso worked frequently with his brother Battista Dossi, who had trained in the Roman workshop of Raphael.

The works he produced for the dukes included the ephemeral decorations of furniture and theater sets.

He is known to have worked alongside il Garofalo in the Costabili polyptych.

One of his pupils was Giovanni Francesco Surchi ( il Dielai ).