Ercole Grandi

Ercole Grandi (c. 1463–before 1 November 1525) was an Italian painter of the early-Renaissance period, active mainly in Ferrara.

Ercole Grandi first appeared in the historical record as being in the service of the house of Este in 1489.

In 1495, he was in Ferrara as the chief architect for realising Duke Ercole's plans to embellish the city and renovate the churches; the facade and interior of Santa Maria in Vado were executed from his design.

He worked with Ludovico Mazzolino and others on the decoration of the Castello, and painted in the apartments of Lucretia Borgia.

One problem in assigning attribution to the hand of Ercole Grandi is that none of his works is signed or dated, or accompanied by supporting documents, but he is thought by some scholars to have painted—in the manner of Mantegna—or had a hand in, the decorative frescoed ceiling in the Sala del Tesoro of the Palazzo Costabili (Palazzo di Ludovico il Moro) in Ferrara between 1503 and 1506.