Virgin and Child with an Angel

Francesco del Cossa's Virgin and Child with an Angel belongs to this Ferrarese master's production of devotional panels that balanced the intense individual style of Cosimo Tura's Ferrarese school with a somewhat warmer, more accessible quality. Del Cossa was among the most significant painters of the Ferrarese school's second generation, contributing to the Schifanoia Palace's month frescoes before moving to Bologna. His Virgin and Child compositions show the distinctive Ferrarese synthesis of Mantegnesque precision with the Este court's taste for rich decorative surfaces and expressive facial types that distinguished Ferrara from all other Italian schools.

Cossa's characteristically precise, sculptural modeling and luminous coloring give the figures a striking clarity and presence, with the angular forms and metallic surface quality typical of the Ferrarese school.