Saint Ambrose is the patron saint of Milan, here represented as a bishop with mitre and crozier. Although the painter’s name is unknown, he convincingly asserts the nature of his subject: one of the four Great Doctors of the Latin Church, a stern religious who asserted Church doctrines and practices in times of political and religious upheaval. The historic Aurelius Ambrosius (337/340–397) was the son of a Roman provincial governor; he became a lawyer and ruler of Milan under the emperor Valentinian. Although his mother and sister were Christians, Ambrose was not yet baptised when he was proclaimed bishop by the people of Milan in 374. Nonetheless, after ordination, he became renowned for his unbending theological orthodoxy and suppression of paganism. He stared down Roman emperors who contested his power in spiritual matters.

The bishop-saint blesses us with his right hand, which bears three gold rings. His mitre of white silk has a golden headband adorned with pearls and large jewels. The crozier, the staff of high rank in the Church, is ornate: despite the symbolic shape of a crook—the bishop is the shepherd of his flock—it is made of gold. The bands of his cloak are inscribed in gold with an invocation to the Virgin. Ambrose is contained within a shadowed niche, its scallop shell symbolising baptism. He is said to have converted Saint Augustine to Christianity and baptised him into the Church. Such scallop shapes were employed by the great architect Bramante, who worked in Milan from 1474 to 1499 and designed the cloisters of the cathedral of Saint Ambrose, built 1497–1498.

The Maestro della Pala Sforzesca or Master of the Sforza Altarpiece, not identified by name, is associated with an important altarpiece commissioned for the church of Sant’Ambrogio ad Nemus, Milan,[1] by Ludovico Sforza, Regent then Duke of Milan. As well as the obligatory kneeling donors and their children, an enthroned Madonna and Child are flanked by the four Doctors of the Church—with Saint Ambrose looking less severe than here. The panel now in Bergamo was probably part of an unknown altarpiece which has been dismantled,[2] and may originally have depicted a full-length figure. The artist’s rendition of Saint Ambrose is characteristic of the subdued palette of late fifteenth-century Milanese painting, particularly marked by the influence of Vincenzo Foppa.[3] Touches of a dark rich red recur in his skull cap and robe, picked up by the brooch, a large light red stone, and are complemented by the dark green of the cloak. But the saint’s flesh is sallow, almost brown, and his cast-down eyes impart a melancholy air, as though Ambrose is weighed down by his responsibilities. The Master admired the sfumato technique of Leonardo da Vinci[4] and his Milanese circle, especially Ambrogio de Predis and Ambrogio Bergognone,[5] with whom he was associated both in Milan and at the Certosa, Pavia.

Christine Dixon

[1]Now in the Pinoteca di Brera, Milan.

[2]Pietro C. Marani, ‘Master of the Pala Sforzesca’, in The legacy of Leonardo: Painters in Lombardy 1490–1530, Milan: Skira, 1998, pp. 170–98, writes that the scalloped background which recurs in several panels by the Master may imply separated parts of one altarpiece (pp. 185–186).

[3]Vincenzo Foppa (1427/1430–1515/1516); see cat 16.

[4]Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519).

[5]See cat 37, attributed to Ambrogio de Predis (c. 1455–after 1508); also Ambrogio Bergognone (c. 1453–1523) cats 28, 29, 32.