Adoration of the Child and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

In front of the ruined hut, is the Holy Family. Jesus, naked, is lying on the ground on a mat folded on one side to build a pillow for the little one. In front of him are the Virgin, kneeling with her hands crossed on her chest in an evident gesture of adoration to the Son, and Saint Joseph; old as if tired, dressed in yellow and leaning on his staff. More than a Nativity, it is a real Adoration of the Child; a customary iconography in the fifteenth century, especially after the story of the Vision of Santa Brigida. In this case, however, the saint is not present but an Augustinian friar, recognisable by the black habit, on which stands an anthropomorphic sun that identifies him as St. Nicholas of Tolentino, the most important thaumaturge of that order, canonised in 1446. Behind the saint opens a sunny landscape that gently slopes towards the horizon. This splendid painting enjoys an almost perfect state of preservation which makes it easy to read and study, revealing a quality sustained in many points and above all in the faces of the characters. One of the highest Renaissance painters in Ferrara is the author of this panel, Lorenzo Costa, who may have painted this Adoration in his youth, perhaps at the time of his apprenticeship with Francesco Francia.