The Adoration with Saint Roch

This Leonardesque panel comes from the church of San Sepolcro, which is now an integral part of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana. Putti musicians cheer the Infant Jesus and Saint Roch joins in the adoration of the Child. The saint is identified by his pilgrim staff and cape, by the wound on his leg caused by the plague, and by the dog with the loaf. Since the saint was particularly invoked during times of plague, it might be reasonable to think that the painting is somehow linked to the great epidemic that struck Milan between 1524 and 1529.