Known sometimes as DEL COSSA, Italian painter of the school of Ferrara, b. about 1430; d. probably at Ferrara, 1485. Cossa is noted especially for his fresco work. The first record we have of him is in 1456 when he was an assistant to his father, Cristofano del Cossa, at that time employed in painting the carvings and statues on the high altar in the chapel of the bishop's palace at Ferrara. Cossa after this worked in conjunction with Cosimo Tura, decorating the summer retreat known as the Schifanoia, and of the frescoes which remain, three can be safely ascribed to him. They illustrate the manners and dress of the period and are rich in architectural details, somewhat less decorative and less fantastic than those of Tura, but stronger and grander than the latter's work. Considering himself, however, insufficiently remunerated by Duke Borso, Cossa left Ferrara for Bologna in 1470, where he obtained many commissions under the Bentivogli. Here he painted his two masterpieces, one, the Virgin and Child with two saints and a portrait of Alberto de'Catanei, produced in 1474; the other, the fresco of the Madonna del Baracano, representing the Virgin and Child with the portraits of Giovanni Bentivoglio and Maria Vinziguerra, painted in 1472. In these works Cossa reveals himself as a painter of great power and originality, stately in his conceptions, grand and massive in portraiture, broad in modelling, simple and severe in composition. In the National Gallery there is a fine picture by him representing St. Vincent Ferrer, an "Annunciation", in the Dresden collection, which has been attributed to Pollajuolo, and a fine profile portrait at Locko Park near Derby, said to represent Duke Ercole I of Ferrara. He executed some glass paintings in Bologna, the best of which is a beautiful circular window, in the church of San Giovanni in Monte, representing St. John in Patmos ; this bears his signature.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online