Vitale da Bologna
Vitale da Bologna (c. 1309–1360), also known as Vitale di Aymo de' Cavalli or Vitale degli Equi, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. • Illustration — St. George and the Dragon • Illustration — Madonna del Ricamo • Illustration — Madonna of Humility He is a representative of the 14th-century school of painting in Bologna, his natal city and the place where he was most active.
Also recorded as Vidolini · Vitale di Almo de' Cavalli · Vitale degli Equi · Vitale d'Aimo de' Cavalli
Vitale da Bologna

Vitale da Bologna · Web Gallery of Art: Image Info about artwork wga QS:P11807,"v/vitale/stgeorge" · Public domain
- Nationality
- Papal States · Lordship of Bologna
- Occupation
- painter
- Known for
- The Coronation of the Virgin · Saint George and the Dragon · Coronation of the Virgin Polyptych · Madonna del Ricamo · Stories of St Anthony the Abbot
- Languages
- Italian
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Vitale da Bologna. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
getty · 500021245 · gnd · 1089128525 · wikidata · Q2575398 · wikipedia · Vitale da Bologna
In this article
Biography
Biography
Surviving works in Bologna include a polyptych in the church of San Salvatore (1353); fresco fragments in the right apsidal chapel of Santa Maria dei Servi; and a fresco of Madonna and Child in San Michele dei Leprosetti. Vitale was also active in Pomposa, where he painted the frescoes in the apse of the Pomposa Abbey in Ferrara, completing a set of now-lost statues for Ferrara Cathedral and a confraternity altarpiece now in the Vatican Museums, and in Udine, where he was called to work for the Patriarch of Aquileia, Bertrand de Saint Geniès. In Udine, he painted a fresco cycle for the main chapel of the Duomo, as well as frescoes in the adjacent confraternity chapel of St Nicholas. He is last registered in Bologna in 1359 and is thought to have died in December of that year or early 1360. His masterwork is the panel with St. George and the Dragon, held in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. Also notable is the Madonna dei Denti ("Madonna of the Teeth", signed and dated 1345), in the Davia-Bargellini Museum in Bologna. Universally attributed to him are the large Nativity fresco originally from the confraternity church of Santa Maria della Mezzaratta in the Bolognese countryside, now detached and conserved in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, and the fresco known as the Madonna del Ricamo ("Embroidering Madonna"), originally from San Francesco, Bologna, and now in deposit at the Museo della Storia di Bologna.
The recorded working language is Italian. Places of work recorded in the authority are Bologna. Works named in the authority record are The Coronation of the Virgin, Saint George and the Dragon, Coronation of the Virgin Polyptych, Madonna del Ricamo and Stories of St Anthony the Abbot. Work by Vitale da Bologna is recorded in the collections of Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Davia Bargellini Museum, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, National Galleries Scotland and Palazzo Fava.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1289
Vitale da Bologna born at Bologna.
1359
Vitale da Bologna died at Bologna.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1089128525, Vitale da Bologna.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
- Getty Union List of Artist Names 500021245, Vitale da Bologna.
General reference · The Getty Research Institute
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2575398: Vitale da Bologna
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Vitale da Bologna”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Vitale da Bologna, revision 1362996590 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Casadio, Paolo. Itinerari di Vitale da Bologna: affreschi ad Udine e Pomposa. Nuova Alfa. 49–88. 1990.
- 2.Edisai. Le Madonne di Vitale: pittura e devozione a Bologna nel Trecento. 33–41. 2010.
- 3.Gibbs, Robert, 'Vitale da Bologna', Grove Art Online.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1089128525, Vitale da Bologna.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessauthority file
Getty Union List of Artist Names 500021245, Vitale da Bologna.The Getty Research Institute
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q2575398: Vitale da BolognaWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Vidolini, Vitale di Almo de' Cavalli, Vitale degli Equi, Vitale d'Aimo de' Cavalli and Vitale delle Madonne. His recorded language was Italian. Work and production. Works recorded as notable number 5: The Coronation of the Virgin, Saint George and the Dragon, Coronation of the Virgin Polyptych, Madonna del Ricamo and Stories of St Anthony the Abbot.
Identity and origins
Recognition and collections
Work by Vitale da Bologna is
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Davia Bargellini Museum, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna and National Galleries Scotland
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
19,456 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Virginie BovieArtist
- Virginie Demont-BretonArtist
- Viśa ĪrasangäArtist
- Visakham ThirunalArtist
- Vitale SalaArtist
- VitaliVArtist
- Vitaly BubentsovArtist
- Vitaly KomarArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Vitale da Bologna?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.