L'Annonciation

1500

Moves to Milan with his father

Together with his father, the landowner Giovanni Donato de Scapis, Bernardino de Scapis — a native of Runo (Dumenza) near Luino on Lake Maggiore, hence the name “Luini” — moves to Milan. Accounts of his teachers differ: according to Lomazzo he trained under Giovan Stefano Scotto, while others consider him a pupil of Ambrogio Bergognone.

1504–1507

Lives in the Veneto, probably in Treviso

Luini lived in the Veneto and, probably, in Treviso, where he associated with the city's Lombard architects — the Lombardo family and the brothers Lorenzo and Giovan Battista Bregno. This is apparently attested by a “Madonna with Child” signed “Bernardinus Mediolanensis faciebat”, whose attribution remains disputed.

1509

Returns to Milan with a commission for a polyptych

Of the polyptych he was commissioned to paint, only “St Anthony of Padua” in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli survives today. Luini's early paintings are in a late Gothic style reminiscent of Bergognone, who is considered his direct mentor.

c. 1510

Marries Margherita Lomazzo

They had four sons — Tobia, Evangelista, Giovanni Pietro and Aurelio; the last two became painters and carried on their father's work after his death in 1532.

1521

Travels to Rome and falls under Raphael's influence

Raphael's influence is evident in the subsequent frescoes in the Villa La Pelucca (1520–1523) and in other works now in the Brera.

1532

Died