Zavattari facts for kids
The Zavattari family were Italian painters who worked in the Lombardy region from the 1300s to the 1500s. They were known for their beautiful fresco paintings.
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Who Were the Zavattari?
The Zavattari family included several artists. Two of the early painters were Cristoforo and Franceschino Zavattari. They helped decorate the famous Duomo of Milan in the early 1400s.
Their Most Famous Work: Monza Cathedral
The most important work by the Zavattari family is found in the Theodelinda Chapel. This chapel is inside the Cathedral of Monza. Ambrogio and Gregorio Zavattari painted these amazing frescoes in 1444.
Special Painting Techniques
The paintings in Monza are special because of how they used gold. The sky in the frescoes is gold and has a raised pattern. This was made using a technique called pastiglia. This means they used plasterwork to create a relief (a raised design) on the surface before painting. This is unusual for fresco painting. Some people think that another artist, Troso da Monza, might have also worked on these paintings.
Zavattari and Tarot Cards
The Zavattari family is also believed to have painted some of the cards for the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck. These are very old and famous tarot cards. However, these cards are usually thought to have been painted by another artist named Bonifacio Bembo.
