The Virgin and Child with a Lamb

This small panel reproduces, with a number of variants, the composition of a well-known work of Leonardo’s now in the Louvre. The picture in the Poldi Pezzoli was painted for private devotion. Compared with the original, it lacks the figure of Saint Anne, probably as specified by the client. The landscape is also different: in this case the city on the right and the castle on the tall crag are North European in type.
The stylistic features of the work, the unusual colouring with its cool tones of blue, and the way Leonardo’s model is reinterpreted through Raphael all confirm the attribution to Cesare da Sesto. The painting is dated to about 1520, after the painter’s return to Milan, following the long period in central and southern Italy, where he was able to see at first hand the works of Raphael.