Giulio Bonasone

Giulio Bonasone (or Giulio de Antonio Buonasone or Julio Bonoso) was an Italian painter and engraver born in Bologna. He possibly studied painting under Lorenzo Sabbatini, and painted a Purgatory for the church of San Stefano, but all his paintings have been lost. He is better known as an engraver and is believed to have trained with Marcantonio Raimondi. He worked mainly in Mantua, Rome and Venice and with great success, producing etchings and engravings after the old masters and his own designs. He signed his plates B., I.B., Julio Bonaso, Julio Bonasone, Juli Bonasonis, Julio Bolognese Bonahso.

He has been regarded an engraver with extraordinary skills in reproducing, as he could accurately convey the sources' compositions, colours, and essence. Moreover, he expressed his understanding about the controversies about religion and culture in his time through his prints. He is considered among the most important and productive engravers of the sixteenth century.--Life--

There are debates about the birth date of Giulio Bonasone due to the lack of documentation. Since he was active during 1531 to 1571, his birthday could be placed around 1513 or earlier if engraving was a part of his formal education. One reason to believe that he was still a student in 1531 is that the work dated to 1531 lacks craftsmanship and familiarity with anatomy.

Giulio Bonasone's work does not appear in published collections of documents nor in the state archives of Bologna. In one document, Bonasone is related to Compagnia dello Quattro Arte and is mentioned to be an auditor of the Guild. Nonetheless, no first name was given and his name was not found in the very few extant name lists of the Compagnia.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023