thumb|right|[[Justina of Padua|St. Justina, adored by the donor <br /> Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna]]
thumb|[[Rovelli_Altarpiece|Nicholas of Bari with two children and Virgin (Rovellio Altarpiece)]]
thumb| detail of [[Rovelli Altarpiece|Nicholas of Bari with two children and Virgin showing the map of the Indian Ocean]]
Alessandro Bonvicino (also Buonvicino) (possibly 22 December 1554), more commonly known as Moretto, or in Italian Il Moretto da Brescia (the Moor of Brescia), was an Italian Renaissance painter from Brescia, where he also mostly worked. His dated works span the period from 1524 to 1554, but he was already described as a master in 1516. He was mainly a painter of altarpieces that tend towards sedateness, mostly for churches in and around Brescia, but also in Bergamo, Milan, Verona, and Asola; many remain in the churches they were painted for. The majority of these are on canvas, but a considerable number, including some large pieces, are created on wood panels. There are only a few surviving drawings from the artist.
He also painted a few portraits, but these are more influential. A full-length Portrait of a Man in the National Gallery, London, dated 1526, seems to be the earliest Italian independent portrait at full length, all the more unexpected as the subject, though clearly a wealthy nobleman, shows no sign of being from a princely ruling family. This format, and the background of an exterior largely closed off by a column the man leans on, was taken up by his main assistant Giovanni Battista Moroni, who painted mainly portraits and was one of the most important portraitists of the mid-16th century.
He was a prominent and pious citizen of the small city of Brescia, belonging to at least two of the most prominent confraternities.
Biography
He was born at Rovato, in Brescian territory, and studied first under Fioravante Ferramola. Others state he trained with Vincenzo Foppa. His brothers Pietro and Jacopo were also painters. He may have been apprenticed to Titian in Venice and modelled his earlier portrait-painting on the Venetian style. On the other hand, the style also resembles that of Giorgione or late Bellini. He conceived a great enthusiasm for Raphael, though he never travelled to Rome; on the other hand, his classical serenity resembles that shown by Leonardo and his followers in Lombardy such as Bramantino. He may have consulted with his contemporary Girolamo Savoldo.
Moretto excelled more in sedate altarpieces than in narrative action, and more in oil painting than in fresco, although he painted fine frescoes depicting the idle daughters of Count Martinengo in one of the palaces near Brescia. He collaborated with Floriano Ferramola in the decoration of the dome of Brescia Cathedral.
In the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna is a St Justina (once ascribed to Il Pordenone); in the Staedel Museum, Frankfurt, the Madonna Enthroned between Sts. Anthony and Sebastian; in the Berlin Museum, a colossal Adoration of the Shepherds, and a large votive picture (one of the master's best) of the Madonna and Child, with infant angels and other figures above the clouds, and below, amid a rich landscape, two priests; in the National Gallery, Central London, is a St Bernardino and Other Saints.