Adoration of the Child

This panel comes from the church of Santa Maria della Misericordia in Bologna, where it formed a predella to a Renaissance altarpiece. Executed with great technical expertise, this painting from Francesco Francia’s mature period enchants the viewer particularly with the perfect harmony achieved between the iconic subject and the naturalistic setting. On the left we see the adoration of the Child. On the right, the pictorial story continues with a subtle evocation of an allegorical subject fairly rare at the time: St Augustine hesitating between the blood of Christ and the Virgin’s milk. The inspiration behind this picture is Raphaelesque.