Bernardino de' Conti

[1] A close apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci, he is best known for his oil portraits and to a lesser extent, religious renditions such as Madonna and Child.

Bernard Berenson argued that La Belle Ferronnière should be attributed to Bernardino de 'Conti, not Leonardo da Vinci.

His first commissions came at an early age with records showing payment for works Magister Bernardin de Comittibus de Castroseprio, filius magistri Baldessaris, port of Cumane, Parochie S. Protaxi intus, pintor mediolanensis, and for an altarpiece representing the Virgin and Child, intended for the Church of San Pietro in Gessate in Milan.

[3] Through this connection he was commissioned to paint multiple portraits for the Trivulzio family, Francesco Sforza (Vatican Pinacoteca), of Sisto della Rovere (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin), among others.

He is also credited with the portrait of Charles II d'Amboise, lord of Chaumont, Meillant and Charenton – there is another version of it made by Andrea Solari, another apprentice of da Vinci.