(Anchiano 1452–1519 Amboise)
Madonna and Child,
Tempera on panel, 18.5 x 14 cm, framed

Exhibited: Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil São Paulo, Mestres do Renacimento, Obras-Primas Italianas, 13 July–23 September 2013 and Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Brasilia, 12 October–5 January 2014

Literature:
Mestres do Renacimento, Obras-Primas Italianas, exhibition catalogue, São Paulo 2013, p. 154-155 (as Attributed to Marco d’Oggiono)

This small panel depicts the Madonna and Child: Jesus at His mother’s breast. In a room illuminated only by the two windows casting light onto the floor, the Madonna is shown in a three-quarter view to the right, holds the naked Child with both hands as He brings his right hand and mouth to the breast. We find the usual iconography of the Virgo Lactans, or Madonna del Latte, which was common in Italy from the fourteenth century onwards.

The present painting derives from the so-called Madonna Litta by Leonardo da Vinci, today conserved in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, for which there is also a signed preparatory study at the Louvre. It was a celebrated composition and different versions that refer to it appeared in the years immediately after its creation between 1491 and 1495.
The present example differs from the original in size and in certain changes, such as the presence of the halo, which is not present in the St. Petersburg picture, and in certain details of the clothes that are executed differently, as well as in the general composition of the figures, which are less tightly grouped.

It has been suggested that the present painting was probably executed around 1505–1510 and an attribution to Marco d’Oggiono (Oggiono c. 1470– c.1549 Milan) has been suggested.