Madonna and Child with Saints Cosmas and Damian

The Virgin looks tenderly down on the Christ Child, who prepares to nurse. The soft textures of skin and hair contrast with the angular folds of the Virgin’s costume. Behind them are the twin saints Cosmas and Damian, patron saints of the Florentine Medici family. Since the Petrucci ruled Siena, the painting was likely made for a Florentine patron.

First documented around 1507, the Sienese painter Andrea del Brescianino was influenced by artists in Florence including Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci. Even though Siena and Florence were enemies, Brescianino likely kept a workshop in each city and even joined the Florentine painters’ guild. His most famous work is the Coronation of the Virgin in Siena’s church of SS Pietro e Paolo.