LOTTO, LORENZO
MADONNA WITH CHILD AND ANGELS (MADONNA DEL LATTE)
While in the Hermitage collection this painting was held to be a work by Leonardo, later Waagen attributed it to Cesare da Sesto, while Cavalcaselle attributed it to Lotto – an early work by the master, thought to have been painted in Bergamo. Thanks to the restoration work carried out in the Pushkin Museum in 1981, the figures of two angels were revealed in the picture, which had previously been concealed by over-painting.
Provenance: as can be seen from the inscription on the reverse, this picture was in Britain in the 18th century; it was acquired by the Hermitage after 1779; in the Pushkin Museum since 1928.
