BEMBO, Bonifazio
(active in Brescia and Cremona 1444-1477)

Portraits of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Sforza

c. 1460
Tempera on canvas, 49 x 31 cm (each)
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

These impressive portraits show the duke and his wife in strict profile and dressed in luxurious garments. There has been considerable discussion as to their authorship and date, with disagreement about whether they were made during the lifetime of the sitters or perhaps posthumously. Most recent authors discount the attribution to Bembo and consider the portraits the work of an unknown Lombard artist.