Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Anna Selbdritt)

Defendente Ferrari painted this Virgin and Child with Saint Anne around 1528, one of his late works in the distinctive Piedmontese style. Ferrari's workshop in the Turin area produced altarpieces that blended Provençal, Flemish, and Lombard influences unique to Piedmont's cultural crossroads. The 1520s were a decade of transition, marked by the deaths of Raphael and Leonardo, the shock of the Reformation, and the beginnings of Mannerist experimentation.

The panel shows Defendente's characteristic sharp, precise style with vivid color and the gold-ground elements that persisted in Piedmontese painting longer than in other Italian centers.