Ambrosiana
Restoration works for the recovery of the historic balconies of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Recovery of the functionality of the balconies of the Sala Federiciana, Borromeo and della Rosa through the installation of lifelines
This artwork was one of Cardinal Federico’s favourites, and he wanted it to be shown very prominently in the Ambrosiana collection. In his treatise Musaeum published in 1625, a fundamental document for the history of the original collection, Borromeo himself stated that the model for this panel was the cartoon by Leonardo, now in the National Gallery in London, from which Luini possibly made a partial tracing. To the composition made by the Tuscan genius, Luini added the figure of Saint Joseph to the left of the Virgin.