Bernardino Luini

Bernardino Luini (1480–1532) was born at Dumenza, near the Swiss border, and died in Milan, working throughout his life in northern Italy. He belongs to the circle of Milanese painters who absorbed Leonardo da Vinci's presence in the city, and he absorbed it more completely than most — the soft modelling, the half-smile, the shadowed transitions between light and dark are all recognisably Leonardesque. For several centuries a number of his paintings were attributed to Leonardo himself, which says something about the quality of the imitation and something about the confusion it caused. He was also a considerable fresco painter, and much of his best work was made for walls rather than panels. Four works here, including Christ Among the Doctors, the Madonna of the Rose Garden, and Salome with the Head of John the Baptist — a subject he returned to more than once.