Madonna of the Book

religious

This is a wonderfully delicate early work. The small panel can be read almost as an experimental exercise, produced by an artist at the very start of his career. The geometrical frame is defined with precision and is enlivened by a beaded garland of the type used by Mantegna.

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About the Artist

Vincenzo Foppa

1427 – 1515

Italian painter, the leading figure in Lombard painting until the arrival of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan in 1481/2. He was born and died in Brescia, but was active mainly in Milan. According to Vasari he obtained his training in Padua, and his robust style owed much to Mantegna, not least in his interest in perspective. His major works include frescos in S. Eustorgio, Milan, and Sta Maria del Carmine, Brescia.

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