This splendid easel painting, recently rediscovered and published for the first time in the catalog of the Leonardo exhibition in Mexico City (2022), represents one of the most intimate moments of the dialogue between the Virgin and Child, tenderly held in a loving embrace. The work, ascribed to the autograph catalogue of one of Leonardo’s most faithful followers, the well- known Marco da Oggiono (Oggiono, circa 1470 - Milan, circa 1524), is one of the most authentic texts of the learning of the nuanced technique and the sculptural characteristics of the typical figures of Leonardo. 

Of the first rudiments of d’Oggiono we do not have precise information, but it can be assumed that his formation took place in the shadow of Zenale and Butinone. What is certain, however, is his placement in the close circle of Leonardo’s faithful pupils from an early age: on 7 September 1490, in fact, it was the master himself who, indulging himself in a confession about Salaì’s misdeeds, told us of the presence of Marco in his workshop. The learning under da Vinci had to continue at least until Marco collaborated closely with Boltraffio, with whom he executed the large altarpiece (1491) for the church of San Giovanni sul Muro in Milan for the Griffi family. The work, of which the central panel with the Resurrection survives today in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, informs us of Leonardo’s strong impact and, at the same time, of an evolved and autonomous artistic solidity. Marco d’Oggiono’s career will continue in the wake of Lombard sentiment, accompanying masterpieces of considerable size with small easel works, probably commissioned by an audience attract- ed by the qualities of an artist who immediately became famous. 

As far as our small panel in question is concerned, it is not difficult to recognize the commonality with other similar pieces in terms of theme, such as the specimens of the Cerruti Foundation and the Pinacoteca di Brera (inv. 5551). Although distant from an iconographic point of view, this painting seems to share the expressive substance and chromatic range with the latter two, where the very high pictorial quality informs us of a mature phase of the painter, between the first and second decades of the sixteenth century. 

What is surprising about this small painting on display is the monumentality of the Virgin who supports the little one on her legs, an ex- pression that would seem to show a certain knowledge of Raphaelesque models, of which Marco becomes an autonomous interpreter. 

Bibliography:

DA Brown, The Master of the “Madonna Litta”, in The Leonardos in Milan. Luck and collecting, edited by M.T. Fiorio - P.C. Marani, Milan 1991, pp. 25-34; 

J. Shell, M. and Venice, in Leonardo and Venice, edited by G. Nepi Scirè, Venice 1992, pp. 360-382; 

J. Shell - G. Sironi, Salaì and the inventory of his estate, in "Raccolta vinciana", XXIV (1992), pp. 113, 123; PC Marani, in Pinacoteca di Brera. Addenda e apparati 

generals, Milan 1996, p. 149;

K. Hermann Fiore, in The Lombard sixteenth century. From Leonardo to Caravaggio (note.), edited by F. Caroli, Milan 2000, pp. 123 s.; PC Marani, ibid., p. 126; C. Pedretti, ibid., pp. 125, 128; C. Geddo, ibid., pp. 130-132; 

C. Bertelli, For the return to Venice of the Madonna Litta, in art. Document”, XX (2004), pp. 102-111;

N. Barbatelli, Leonardo and his followers, (Catal.) edited by N. Barbatelli, Naples 2023, pp. 87 – 89.

Nicola Barbatelli