Cristo in pietà fra due angeli 1490

Ambrogio Bergognone painted this image of Christ in piety between two angels sometime in the late 15th or early 16th century. Images such as this one played an important role in the devotional life of the time, particularly in confraternities and other lay religious organizations. This panel would have been commissioned in Italy for the purpose of private worship. Bergognone painted in Lombardy in a period when the region was experiencing political upheaval, caught between larger powers. Lombard art of this time drew on influences from the Netherlands and other northern countries, as well as from Florentine painting. Historical sources such as confraternity records, religious treatises, and biographies of artists are invaluable resources for understanding the social function of art in this period. These can reveal the networks of patronage and the prevailing attitudes toward religious imagery. Understanding the social and institutional context is essential to interpreting the meaning and function of art.