Bachiacca was a Florentine Mannerist painter who probably trained in the school of Perugino. This panel, which shows the influence of Leonardo, Andrea del Sarto and Fra Bartolomeo, contains a wealth of botanical symbolism: the Baby Jesus shows John the Baptist a pomegranate, a sign of his future Passion; the Precursor’s cross lies between two columbine flowers, indicating his future martyrdom; on the right of the Virgin we see her attribute, dog roses, and behind Joseph a thriving pomegranate tree announces the future flourishing of the Church; lastly the little wild strawberry flowers recall the mystery of the Incarnation.
The exhibition reveals the profound resonance that Leonardo's teaching in the field of design had on his students, his followers and the Lombard artists of the time.
Presentations of ancient Roman epigraphs from the Ambrosiana collections.
