Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at :it:Alessandro Berri|Alessandro Berri page in Wikipedia Italy; see its history for attribution. Alessandro Berri was an Italian painter who lived in Piedmont around the 1500s.
Life
There is no clear information about his dates of birth and death, because most of sources about him are dating back to the 1800s. However, these sources tell that his place of birth was Castelnuovo Scrivia and that he was the nephew of Vincenzo Bandello the prior of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan during the period when Leonardo painted "The Last Supper". According to the 19-century historian Goffredo Casalis, thanks to the intercession of Vincenzo Bandello, Leonardo became the tutor of Alessandro Berri: "..…spent quite a long time in Castelnuovo, where was introduced through Matteo Bandello and his uncle Vincenzo… on his hosts request accepted to train Alessandro Berri in the art of painting…". These sources also tell that Alessandro Berri became a "distinguished pupil" of his great Maestro. There are no further sources of information that may give exact data about the artistic and painterly development of Alessandro Berri. From research conducted recently, Alessandro Berri was married to Gabriella Signorio, lived in Castelnuovo Scrivia in the district of "de Molinis" and certainly had 6 children even if it is not to be excluded that he had others.
Works
His most known work of art is a copy of the ":it:File:Ultima_Cena_-_Alessandro_Berri,_1540.jpg|Ultima Cena - Last Supper" which can be admired above the altar of the Corpus Domini Chapel of Saints Peter and Paulchurch in Castelnuovo Scrivia. The artwork is painted on a table made of five pieces of poplar wood commissioned by the "Company of the Holy Sacrament" of Castelnuovo Scrivia, of which Alessandro Berri was a member brother. He considerably lowered its cost both for the love for his Company and "for the good feeling he had to leave this important memory of his virtue to his Country in such an important place…". The paint itself can be seen as a copy of "The Last Supper" of Leonardo, but with the characters placed in a specular manner in spite of the original., Alessandria, Italy|leftOther known works are:
An oil paint "Madonna in trono col Bambino" which in the past was located at the picture gallery of Tortona and now is preserved in the Civic Museum of Palazzo Centurione of Castelnuovo Scrivia. The paint is signed in the lower part "Alexander Birius neocastrensis pinxit anno 1569";
of the Castello Podestarile or Pretorio Palace in Castelnuovo Scrivia. In the lower side of an ornament there is the inscription "De Berris faciebat 1557";
, rulers of Castelnuovo Scrivia from 1526 till 1588, in the Castle of Torriani e Bandello;
on both sides of the altar in the Corpus Domini chapel, ordered by the "Company of the Holy Sacrament".
Credited to Alessandro Berri is also where are illustrated some Stories of the Passion. This artwork, sawed in the centre to insert a tabernacle, was re-discovered during the 1986 restoration works of "The Last Supper" hidden by the lower wooden frame of the altar.
