GIOVANNI FRANCESCO CAROTO
(1480 – 1555/1558) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in his native city of Verona.

He initially apprenticed under Liberale da Verona (1445-1526/1529), a conservative painter infused with the style of Mantegna. Caroto after a stay in Milan, began responding to the other influences from Francesco Bonsignori, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Giulio Romano; but he never lost a certain individuality and his rich Veronese color. He is perhaps best known for having trained, along with the younger Antonio Badile, the prominent Mannerist painter, Paolo Veronese, who was active mainly in Venice.

Good examples of his art are in the Castello, Milan, the Chiesa de Carità, Mantua, in the Uffizi and Pitti, Florence, and in the museums of Dresden, Budapest, etc. His works are sometimes confused with those of his brother Giovanni, who was likewise a talented painter.

The child in the works of Caroto:

Caroto, Boy with a drawing, oil on wood, 37 x 29 cm