Bartolomeo Caporali

Bartolomeo Caporali (Perugia, c. 1420 - 1505) was an Italian painter and miniaturist who worked in Perugia, in the region of Umbria, during the early Renaissance. His importance lies mainly in what his output reveals about the artistic milieu of Perugia in the second half of the fifteenth century, when he worked alongside painters such as Bonfigli, Perugino and Pinturicchio.

His training is poorly documented. He has been linked to Benozzo Gozzoli and Giovanni Boccati, although the dates do not fully fit those supposed lessons, so historians usually credit Gozzoli with most of his training, with caution. His first documented record is his enrolment in the Perugian painters' guild in 1442, and in 1454 he received a public commission for a Maestà and a Pietà for the Palazzo dei Priori, which established him as an independent master.

Among his works are The Virgin and Child between Two Praying Angels, dated to around 1450, and the Assumption of the Virgin at the monastery of Santa Giuliana, completed in 1469. The Caporali Missal, made with his brother Giapeco for the Franciscan convent at Montone, is also notable for its full-page decoration. His style, marked by careful attention to fabrics and gentle facial expressions, was highly adaptable, although the quality of his work declined in his final years.

Caporali was also active in public life: he served as prior of Perugia and held posts in artists' guilds, and his judgement was sought in valuing the works of others. He died between 1503 and 1505. His legacy is chiefly that of a local workshop tradition that linked early Renaissance painting in Umbria with the generation that followed.