Pala Sforzesca

The Master of the Pala Sforzesca's Pala Sforzesca, painted around 1494 and now in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, is named after this very painting — one of the most important documents of Milanese court painting in the age of Ludovico Sforza, 'il Moro,' who ruled Milan as one of the most powerful princes of Renaissance Italy. The painting shows the enthroned Madonna and Child flanked by saints and by Ludovico Sforza himself with his family kneeling in devotion, their dynastic presence integrating political authority with religious devotion in a manner typical of court altarpieces.

Oil on panel with the Lombard Leonardesque technique — soft sfumato modelling, pyramidal compositional arrangement, gentle graduated tonality. The Madonna is enthroned centrally with the Sforza family kneeling in adorant profile at the lower corners.