was an Italian painter who became a part of the Northern Renaissance.
While many surviving paintings have been attributed, there is very little known of him from records, and he tended not to sign his work. He is believed to be responsible for mainly religious art, but also painted portraits on commission. In his lifetime he was successful; he had a large workshop, his work was sold internationally and he was especially popular in Spain. Although Ambrosius Benson (or Ambrose Benzone, as he is named by an early scholar in deference to his Lombardian origin) was Italian by birth, scholars consider him a painter of the Flemish school. Typical of the itinerant manner of many painters of the time, he moved to Bruges c. 1515 and served his apprenticeship with the Early Netherlandish painter Gerard David. He later became a naturalized citizen of Bruges. Benson came into dispute with Gerard around 1519, over a number of paintings and drawings Benson had created -including a book of studies for heads and nudes as well as various patterns- in the older master's workshop without his assistance. David refused to return the material, and after Benson pursued him legally, served time in prison for his appropriation.
