Ludovico Lana was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 painter of the Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 period, mainly active in Modena

Modena

Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....

, where he died in 1646. He is also known as Lodovico Lana. He was the director of the Accademia Ducale of Modena. He is said to have been born in Codigoro

Codigoro

Codigoro is a comune in the Province of Ferrara in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 70 km northeast of Bologna and about 40 km east of Ferrara.-Main sights:*Abbey of Pomposa...

 to a Ferrarese

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

 merchant, whose family was originally from Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

. He appears to have trained with Scarsellino

Scarsellino

Scarsellino or Ippolito Scarsella , was an Italian Late-Renaissance - Mannerist painter of the School of Ferrara. He was born and died in Ferrara; however, he traveled and worked extensively across Italy, encountering many influences. He was born to an artist father, the less-talented Sigismondo...

 in Ferrara. He then spent some time in Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

, where he may have worked under or learned the style of either Reni

Guido Reni

Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...

 or Guercino.

He helped decorate the ducal palace in Sassuolo

Sassuolo

Sassuolo is an important industrial centre of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The town stands on the right bank of the river Secchia some 17 km south-west of Modena.-History :...

. One of his masterpieces is the gonfalone

Gonfalone

The gonfalon or gonfalone , is a type of heraldic flag or banner, often pointed, swallow-tailed, or with several streamers, and suspended from a crossbar...

 or banner celebrating the end of the plague of 1630, which shows the town of Modena in low aerial view below the Madonna della Ghiara.