(Lodi 1475–1530) The Adoration of the Shepherds, dated in the arch: 1518, oil on panel, 49 x 37 cm, framed

Provenance: Erich Lindhurst Collection, Brussels; Luigi Bonomi Collection, Milan; European private collection. Literature: B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Central Italian and North Italian Schools, I, London 1968, p. 336; F. Moro, in: “Pittura tra Adda e Serio, Lodi, Treviglio, Caravaggio, Crema”, 1997, p. 105; F. Moro, “Due fratelli due differenti percorsi: Martino e Alberto Piazza”, in: Studi in Storia dell’arte, Todi 1997, p. 129. Dr. Everett Fahy, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, has confirmed the present painting to be an authentic and autograph work by Piazza (oral communication). Martino and his brother Alberto Piazza were members of a family of artists active in Lodi in Lombardy. Their works reveal dependencies on Bergognone, Leonardo, and Luini. Their chief work is considered to be the decoration of the church of Beata Vergine Incoronata in Lodi (started in 1517). The present composition, characterized by bright colours and a great wealth of narrative detail, presents the scene of the Adoration in a hilly landscape, against the backdrop of a mountain range in the far distance. It is an impressive example of the artistic innovation of that period that was spreading from Milan.