By 1473, Ercole had left Ferrara and was working in
Bologna in the studio of
Francesco del Cossa. According to Vasari, Ercole also apprenticed under
Lorenzo Costa in Bologna, but this seems unlikely as he was Lorenzo's senior by several years. and lateral pilasters for the altarpiece commissioned from del Cossa. Ercole de' Roberti is known to have collaborated in the frescoes of
Palazzo Schifanoia. In 1480, Ercole created a large altarpiece with a
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints for Santa Maria in Porto in
Ravenna, which is now in the
Pinacoteca di Brera,
Milan. Portraits of
Giovanni II Bentivoglio and Ginevra Bentivoglio attributed to Ercole de' Roberti (c. 1480) are in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Ercole succeeded
Cosmè Tura as court painter to the
Este family in Ferrara around 1486. His role apparently went far beyond making art: he accompanied Alfonso d'Este on a papal visit to Rome, served as wardrobe manager for Isabella d'Este's wedding in
Mantua, and may even have made salamis. A painting of
Portia and Brutus (c. 1486–90), believed to be painted for
Eleonora of Aragon, duchess of Ferrara, is in the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas and is thought to belong to a series which also includes
The Wife of Hasdrubal and Her Children and
Brutus, Lucretia and Collatinus. Ercole's painting of
Saint Jerome in the Wilderness from this period is in the collection of the
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. The Getty presented the first monographic exhibition of Ercole's work in 1999. At The
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid there is a small panel from a
cassone or wedding chest attributed to him. From around 1480 it narrates an episode of
Ovid's famous
Metamorphoses,
The argonauts leaving Colchis. ==References==