The Nativity

This work was first published in G.F. Waagen's Treasures of Art in Great Britain (1854), and as the signature must have been painted over at that time, was attributed to the northern Italian artist Gaudenzio Ferrari. The composition develops naturally from foreground to middle ground and then onto the background, and the color scheme is richly varied. While we can spot the influence of Correggio in the foreground figures, the landscape elements in the background speak of the detailed style of the miniaturist Leonbruno and a northern, particularly Flemish technique. This work, while small, is extremely important as few authenticated works by Leonbruno remain today.(Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 15)