I gave up trying to sketch the Da Vinci and another painting nearby caught my eye. I drew it quickly at first and then another time to enjoy the shapes, lights, and darks.
I didn't know anything about this artist and have just now looked him up on the internet to educate myself. He is called Solario from Milan and he is considered to be very close stylistically to Da Vinci. Do you suppose that this is because he lived in France too like Da Vinci and painted this in about the same few years as the "Virgin and Saint Anne"? (alas this isn't an art history blog).
What moved me about this painting is more of a personal story. As a mother myself who has spent plenty of time nursing an infant, I was taken by the natural details. First, the green cushion, a woman must position a cushion like this to support her arm around the child. My heart went out to the way she is holding the baby in the most common nursing pose. And then, notice that the baby is playing with his foot while he nurses. The Christ Child and His Chubby little Toes!
The Italian painting collection in the Louvre was my favorite and above all I love the artists from Florence. This figure of an angel is from a fragment of a Fra Angelico altarpiece. I also loved Giotto, Fra Filipo Lippi, and most of all Botticelli.
