Madonna and Child with Saint Peter, Saint Ambrose, Saint Clare of Montefalco, and an unidentified Saint, possibly Joseph of Arimathea, with a donor,
tempera on panel, 92.5 x 146.5 cm, framed

The present painting may have been conceived originally as a triptych and at a later date inserted in a single frame (in 1956 the so-called San Michele Triptych by Bramantino in the Ambrosiana, Milan, was similarely altered). The present painting conforms to the horizontally extended Sacra Conversazione format, with the Madonna centrally placed, and a donor, here presented by Saint Ambrose, kneeling in homage beside her; the Saint suggests the donor may have been from Milan. The painting’s style also clearly points to its Lombard origin: probably from the Lodigiana area, close to Pavia. The Saint to the Madonna’s far right presents a rare iconography – certain identification could furnish further information on the work’s original provenance – however, for the time being, it can be suggested that he may be Joseph of Arimathea, who put his tomb at disposal for the burial of Christ. Indeed, he is usually represented in oriental dress, wearing a turban, and he is also almost always shown with the monstrance bearing the mystic host symbolic of Christ’s sacrifice.

The stylistic influence of Bergognone, who for years worked in the Certosa of Pavia, can be strongly felt in the present work: this alone suggests it may be by a painter from the Pavia area.

Mauro Lucco, to whom we are extremely grateful, has suggested that this work can be compared to Bernardino Fasolo’s large polyptych on the high altar of the new church of Cassano d’Adda. He compares the figure of Saint Ambrose in the present painting with a figure of the Cassano altarpiece. Lucco also points out similarities in the handling of the clouds and the same facial type in the profile of Saint Clare and the Madonna in the Nativity at the centre of the polyptych, and additionally, even the way in which the drapery folds are arranged on the ground and the small visible areas of vaporous landscape background are similar in type. When the polyptych was recorded in the pastoral visit to the church of Cassano d’Adda in 1565, it bore the signature of Bernardino Fasolo at the border of the Madonna’s cloak. Today this is only fragmentarily visible, but in 1852 it was clearly read by Ignazio Cantù (see: Vicende della Brianza, Milan 1852, I, pp. 290-291). The date, 1516, has now entirely disappeared.

Bernardino Fasolo (Pavia, circa 1485 - after 1526 and before 1528 Genoa) was the son of Lorenzo, also a painter. He moved to Genoa following his father circa 1495 and is documented in 1515 as working in the monastery of San Sebastiano in Pavia. That year – despite its recent, tentative attribution to the Cremonese Bernardino Gatti called il Sojaro, by Marco Tanzi (in: Pittura a Pavia dal Romanico al settecento, Milan 1988, p. 225) – Fasolo may also have executed the fine triptych of San Francesco which was attributed to him by Cavalcaselle (see: A History of Painting in North Italy, London, 1871, II, p. 72). The figures in the present work are also comparable to Fasolo’s Madonna and Child in the Louvre, which is signed and dated 1518, and with the Nativity with Saints in the Pinacoteca Malaspina at Pavia, which is signed and dated 1521. Here, as in the present painting, the influence of the manner of Luca Baudo is recognisable. Bernardino Fasolo has taken charge of Baudo’s studio in Genoa in 1511. Documents show that Fasolo was still alive on the 8th November 1526, but he must have perished during the plague of 1528, since no records exist after this date.

We are grateful to Mauro Lucco for his help in cataloguing this lot.

Technical analysis
The present painting has a free contour underdrawing, which was made with a brush; little hatching is observed. It is more evident in the flesh tones, on the throne and on the Madonna’s red dress. The composition seems to have been drawn freehand, without the use of transferring methods such as cartoons or lucid paper. Some small changes can be observed under IRR.

According to vis-RS spectroscopy, pigments include: azurite in the blue colours, vermillion and red lake in the red colours, and verdigris, ochre, and probably orpiment/realgar in the orange-brown of Saint Peter’s cloak.

We are grateful to Gianluca Poldi for his technical analysis of the present painting.