BARTOLOMMEO SUARDI ( c. 1 455 - x. 1 53 6), Italian painter and architect, frequently called Bramantino, was born in Milan, the son of Alberto Suardi. He executed a number of paintings containing portraits of celebrated personages for the Vatican. In 1508 he was engaged in Rome. Bramante d'Urbino taught Bramantino architecture, and the pupil assisted the master in the execution of the interior of the church of San Satiro, Milan. In 1525 Bramantino was appointed architect to the court by Duke Francis (II.) Sforza, and his aid as an engineer in the defence of Milan brought him a multitude of rewards.
Bartolommeo Suardi has been much confused with a certain Bramantino da Milano, of whom Vasari makes frequent and specific mention in his life of Piero della Francesca, his observations on Benvenuto Garofalo and Girolamo da Carpi, and his life of Jacopo Sansovino. The Bramantino of Vasari, if he existed at all, worked for Pope Nicolas V. between 1450 and '455