This small panel was once the property of Marie de Médicis. The Crucifixion (No. 1532) was formerly catalogued under the name of Andrea de Milan, which led some to confuse Andrea Solario with the much less efficient painter, Andrea Salaino. This picture is inscribed:

ANDREAS MEDIOLANENSIS FA 1503,

a form of signature which is said to have been employed by Solario only for such of his pictures as were destined for other towns than Milan. The Head of St. John the Baptist on a Charger (No. 1533) is said to be signed and dated

ANDREAS DE SOLARIO, FAT, 1507.

The Portrait of Charles d’Amboise, Seigneur of Chaumont and Governor of Milan (No. 1531), like many other of Solario’s pictures, has in the past, when the range of his art was not so well understood, been attributed to other artists.

BERNARDINO LUINI

In Bernardino Luini (1475?–1533?) we have a lyrical artist. He is said to have been a pupil of one Stefano Scotto, but he was deeply impressed by the art of Borgognone, and early in the sixteenth century came under the influence of Leonardo. Indeed, it was almost impossible at that period of Milanese art for a painter in that school to resist the style of Leonardo. Although Luini’s works are reminiscent of the greater master, he strove after originality; he was an industrious painter rather than an artist of genius. Luini is never very emotional, never passionate, never dramatic. His figures are characterised by sweetness and grace; his types are refined but insipid and are apt to become monotonous. It is as a painter of frescoes that he succeeds best, and the Louvre is fortunate in possessing several of his works in that medium. The best are a Nativity (No. 1359), and an Adoration of the Magi (No. 1360). The Head of Christ (No. 1361) is inscribed:

POSCE NE DUBITA QUOD
QUODCV̄ PATRI IN NOMINE MEo
PETIERIS FIET TIBI.

They were acquired in 1867 from the collection of the Duke Antonio Litta Visconti Arese, of Milan. The Louvre also contains fragments of large fresco paintings of the Forge of Vulcan (No. 1356), a Child Seated (No. 1357), and a Child Kneeling (No. 1358). They form part of the series, which is now preserved in Milan, but formerly decorated the Villa Pelucca near Monza; they were removed from there in 1817. These three fragments have been transferred from plaster to canvas or panel. The four frescoes (Nos. 1362–1365) are by a pupil. The art of Luini as a painter on panel is seen to advantage in the Holy Family (No. 1353), the Virgin and the Infant Christ (No. 1354), and Salome receiving the Head of St. John the Baptist (No. 1355).

The arrival of Leonardo da Vinci, when little over thirty years of age, at the court of Lodovico Sforza at Milan revolutionised art in that city. The exquisite rhythm and balance and the remarkable gestures and facial expression seen in his Last Supper must have made a profound impression on all the Milanese, people and painters alike. Not having been educated in the profound principles that gradually built up the school of Florence, whence the great painter came, the majority of the native artists were so overcome by his power that in time they became enslaved by the magic of his brush.