“È però cosa gentile lo haver cognitione di più cose”. Per la biografia di Giovanni Mario Verdizzotti

The article reconstructs elements of Giovanni Mario Verdizzotti’s still elusive biography, based on unpublished deeds. The writer and painter’s testament, drafted in 1581 and unpublished by the notary, a post-mortem inventory of his personal property (1608), together with additional archival records, shed light onto various aspects of Verdizzotti’s life and relationships, including his origins and family relationships, his assignment to several dioceses after embracing the clerical state, and the friendships and patronage of leading figures in the Venetian artistic and literary milieu. There is also information about paintings, specifically works by Titian, which were in his possession five years following the master from Cadore’s death and evidence of the importance that graphic art, engraving activities and the production of paint colours had up to the end of his life.