Birago, Giovanni Pietro da

Italy, (fl. c.1471/4-1513)

  • Giovanni Pietro da Birago - St Anthony Abbot battling with demons
  • St Anthony Abbot battling with demons

  • [from the Sforza Hours, f.202v]
  • (c. 1490), tempera colors, gold leaf, and gold paint on parchment
  • 5.2 x 3.7 in. (13.0 x 9.5 cm.)
  • The British Library
  • Editor’s Note:

    Birago’s principal work is the Hours of Bona Sforza, for which he was previously known as the ‘Master of the Sforza Book of Hours’ before he was conclusively identified in 1956 as the illuminator.

    The Sforza Hours – a book for private devotions – was commissioned from Birago in about 1490 and not completed until 30 years later, after changing ownership, by the Flemish painter Gerard Horenbout.

    The pig in this work peeks in on the scene from the lower right corner as shown in the close up below:

    close up

About the Artist

Giovanni Pietro da Birago, Italy, (fl. c.1471/4-1513). Birago was an Italian illuminator and engraver, a leading Milanese illuminator, he was much favored by the ducal court. [DES/11/09]

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