Renaissance Lombardy in the John G. Johnson Collection

Drawing from the John G. Johnson's rich collections in Italian Renaissance painting, which included every region of Italy, this installation consists of 10 rare paintings from late fifteenth and early sixteenth-century Lombardy of which Milan was the capital. Many of the works show the influence of the Florentine painter Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) who moved to Milan in 1482 in order to work for the ruler Duke Ludovico Sforza, not only as a painter, but also as a military engineer and sculptor. Leonardo enjoyed a privileged position at the court, the most brilliant and richest in all of Italy. He established a workshop in Milan in which he trained a number of artists, but his influence went far beyond his own circle, and even older artists like Vincenzo Foppa in the chiaroscuro of the Virgin and Child (illustrated on this page) shows the fascination that Leonardo exerted throughout the region.