techniques that gave paintings depth and
volume they had lacked in the Gothic style.
Two of Bellini’s notebooks, containing
more than two hundred sketches, were
even better known to contemporary artists
than his paintings. Left to his sons in
Bellini’s will, they were used for genera-
tions by Venetian artists as models in clas-
sical and biblical themes and as studies in
techniques of perspective.
SEEALSO: Bellini, Gentile; Bellini, Gio-
vanni; Mantegna, Andrea
Bentivoglio, Giovanni II ....................
(1443–1508)
Ruler of the Italian city of Bologna who
made important improvements to the city
and reigned over a splendid Renaissance
court. He was the son of the city’s chief
magistrate, Annibale I Bentivoglio, who
was murdered in 1445 at the hands of a
rival, Battista Canneschi. With Annibale’s
son still too young to rule the city; the
people of Bologna sent to Florence for
Annibale’s cousin Sante, who reigned until
his death in 1463. Then twenty years of
age, Giovanni made himself signore,or
lord of the city. He put his skill as a mili-
tary commander to use on behalf of the
more powerful cities of Florence, Naples,
and Milan.
Bologna’s court flourished during
Bentivoglio’s reign. He commissioned
paintings for churches and civic buildings
and also ordered the building of the
Palazzo Bentivoglio, a magnificent town
hall. In 1506, Bentivoglio was excommuni-
cated and deposed by Pope Julius II, who
had designs of his own on Bologna. He
fled the city at the approach of the pope’s
army. After his sons attempted to retake
the city, the citizens of Bologna rebelled
against him and destroyed his property.
Bentivoglio was then captured by the
forces of the French king Louis XII, and
died in Milan as the king’s prisoner.
SEEALSO: Julius IIBoccaccio, Giovanni ..........................
(1313–1375)
Born in Florence as the illegitimate son of
Boccaccio de Chellino, a merchant, Gio-
vanni Boccaccio felt a strong ambition to
become a poet from a young age. His fa-
ther was employed by the Bardi banking
house; he tutored his son in Latin and in-
tended to make him a man of business. In
about 1328 father and son traveled to
Naples, where Giovanni trained as a
banker while his father served the king as
an adviser in financial matters. This ap-
prenticeship lasted six years and left Boc-
caccio with an ever-stronger desire to
study classical literature and write poetry.
Through his father’s position at the Neo-
politan court he met philosophers, writers,
and scientists, and also developed exper-
tise in the subject of classical mythology.
Boccaccio found an early inspiration
in his unrequited love for a young noble-
woman, whom he first saw on Holy Satur-
day 1336 in the Church of San Lorenzo in
Naples. Named Fiammetta in his works,
she was the daughter of the king of Naples,
whose high-born position and marriage
drove Boccaccio to writeFiametta Amo-
roso, an account of his frustrated passion.
He also wroteFilocolo, a medieval romance
on unrequited love that describes in vivid
detail the people and society of Naples.
Although he was schooled in the clas-
sics and in Latin and Greek, Boccaccio felt
at home in his native tongue and with the
popular poetic forms of Italy. HisFilos-
tratoisalongpoemcomposedinoctavo,
an eight-line scheme from the island of
Sicily that was popular with singers andBentivoglio, Giovanni II