Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio was trained by Leonardo da Vinci. Though he painted an altarpiece in Bologna, his work was centered mostly in and around Milan for patrons such as the Sforza family and for churches. Renowned for his skill as a portraitist, it has long been a subject of debate whether Leonardo himself was involved in the making of many works attributed to Boltraffio; for example, the work Madonna Litta at the Hermitage that is typically attributed to Leonardo.
As a result of increased contact with other artists in Milan, he became more stylistically diffuse later in life, and his work no longer so closely resembled that of Leonardo’s. After a brief stint in Bologna, he died in 1516. Boltraffio’s work is held at the National Gallery, London and the Uffizi, Florence, among other places.