BERGOGNONE, Ambrogio
(b. ca. 1453, Fossano, d. 1523, Milano)

Polyptych

c. 1494
Wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris

The central panel (89 x 76 cm) depicts the Presentation in the Temple, while the left wing (150 x 65 cm) represents St Augustine and a Kneeling Donor, the right wing (150 x 65 cm) St Peter Martyr and a Kneeling Donor.

Bergognone inherited from Vincenzo Foppa, the founder of Lombard painting, a strict construction and soft modelling in an ashen, silvery light. However, he was receptive to the innovations brought to Milan by the architect Bramante (architectural perspectives) and Leonardo da Vinci (modelling created by intense chiaroscuro), as also to the monumentality of Florentine art.