Saint Ambrose and Saint Sebastian
Two panels at Waddesdon (see also acc. no 872) once belonged to a large polyptych altarpiece from Milan dedicated to Saint Francis and the Virgin. They were painted by a little-known artist whose work demonstrates both the taste for excessive ornamentation at the Sforza court, and new innovations brought to the city by visiting artists. This panel originally formed the right-hand side of the lower register.
Saint Ambrose, on the left, is the patron Saint of Milan and is shown with the triple scourge, symbolic of the Trinitarian doctrine with which he confronted the Arians. He also holds a bishop's crozier with the Holy Lamb rendered in gilt low relief, reminiscent of fine goldsmith work. Saint Sebastian, on the right, was a popular saint, believed to guard against the plague. He holds the arrow and sword of his torture and eventual martyrdom.
The central section of the altarpiece from which these panels come shows the Virgin Mary and Christ Child seated on a throne, surrounded by musical angels (now Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon). The side-panels of the upper register also contain pairs of full-length Saints: Saint Bernardino of Siena, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Francis and Saint Jerome (now Musée National d'Histoire et de l'Art, Luxembourg). The patterns on the background entablature and pillars are repeated in all five panels. The lost upper sections of the altarpiece probably showed God surrounded by angels (see Vertova, 1969).
Elements of the fictive architecture recall Bramante's innovative architecture in the re-modelled Church of Santa Maria presso Santo Satiro, Milan, completed in 1484. Similar designs were probably also carved into the wooden framework surrounding the panels, also covered in gold leaf. The lack of reference to Leonardo's revolutionary technique dates the work prior to 1490. The perspectival technique is more akin to a large reliquary of statuettes, rather than a convincing building inhabited by real people. The altarpiece may possibly relate to payments made in 1487 from the Operai of the Cathedral of Milan although there is a lack of evidence to support this suggestion. It was probably made for a Franciscan convent or for patrons devoted to Saint Francis.
The Luxembourg panels were attributed to Bevilacqua in 1957 (see Vertova, 1969). Giovanni Ambrogio Bevilacqua, called il Liberale, was one of several Lombard painters who broke away from the Gothic style. He did, however, rely heavily on copying motifs from other painters. He was the son of a woodcarver from Milan. He was a member of the Guild of Painters in 1481. He painted devotional altarpeices and church frescoes in Milan and the surrounding area. His signed and dated frescoes in the church of S. Vittore at Landriano of 1485 have stylistic similarities in the faces of the Saints and architectural details with the two panels at Waddesdon. Bevilacqua remained committed to the taste for expensive ornamentation that dominated the Sforza court, but he did try to keep abreast of the innovators who came to Milan, such as Leonardo and Bramante. After 1500, when the French occupied Milan, Bevilacqua returned to producing more traditional devotional scenes associated with local piety.
Phillippa Plock, 2012