The Brera Palace at Milan contains a great number of small and extremely interesting frescos, that have been removed from various churches and suppressed convents in the city and neighbourhood, among which are some very good examples of Bernardino Luini’s work (1470-1530?). Luini was the most famous scholar of Leonardo da Vinci, and was so greatly influenced by the latter that many pictures had for a long time been ascribed to his master. He was a most prolific and industrious artist, both in fresco and in easel pictures, and as a rule his work is full of grace and charm. The female figures and children painted by Luini are always characterized by their easy natural poses, and have a refined delicacy and sweetness of expression. His colouring, always rich and warm in tone, is chiefly distinguished by its freshness and purity; these qualities are best seen in his smaller frescos, now in the Brera galleries. In the entrance corridor there is an example of his fresco work, brought from the Church of St. Maria di Brera, in Milan. The subject is the “Virgin and Child,” with an angel and two other figures, St. Abate, and St. Barbara, and a boy with a lute. The colour and drawing of this example are extremely good, though the general composition is lacking in
Photo. Alinari.
Plate 31.—Fresco, Infant Angel
Luini, Brera, Milan
Photo, Alinari