Bonifacio Bembo

[1] Based on letters written by Bembo, he claimed to be a supporter of the Francesco Sforza in 1447 following the death of Filippo Maria Visconti, the Duke of Milan.

Sforza eventually became Duke of Milan in 1450 and because of the support Bembo had shown him a few years prior, commissioned him to many works.

While painting the decorations of the chapel, Bembo showed fine style demonstrating the influence of Michelino da Besozzo and the Zavattari brothers.

He painted an altarpiece commemorating the wedding day, October 25, of Bianca and Francesco Sforza for their chapel in Sant'Agostino in 1462.

[1] In the summer of 1472 he began to work on a votive chapel of St Mary outside Vigevano with Leonard Ponzoni at the behest of Galeazzo Sforza.

The portraits originally hung on pillars outside of the chapel of SS Daria and Grisante, again in the church of Sant'Agostino of Cremona.

The details of Francesco's mole on his cheek, his chin folds, and his pursed lips were all captured with shadowy lines and demonstrate the competence of Bembo as an artist.

It is difficult to determine the precise role Bembo played in the decoration of the chapel because he worked alongside several other artists, which would become a theme in his later life.

In 1474 he worked on a chapel in the church of Santa Maria da Caravaggio alongside Giacomino Vincemala.

[4] Art historians believe his style improved over the years as he learned how to accurately represent space.

[4] One of Bonifacio's best known works is the deck of tarot cards he painted for Bianca Maria Visconti and Francesco Sforza in the mid fifteenth-century, probably after 1455.

However, the modelling of the putti on six trumps is different from Bembo's style and they are believed to have been painted to replace lost cards.

The deck is composed of four main suits known as Swords (spade), Cups (coppe), Coins (denari), and Staves (bastoni).

The deck is thought to have been painted around 1455, because Francesco Sforza's three-ring device can be found on the Emperor and Empress cards.

Italo Calvino wrote a novel titled The castle of crossed destinies based on the deck of cards Bembo created.