The Madonna and Child adored by St Matthew and the Blessed Riniero with an angel

The Weld Blundell collection of 327 old master drawings is number range WAG 1995.50 - 148 & WAG 1995.150 - 378. This is a preliminary compositional sketch, minus the figure of St Carlo Borromeo, for the painting of "The Madonna and Child adored by Sts Matthew, Carlo Borromeo and the Blessed Riniero" in Bologna Pinacoteca Nazionale, inv. 492, formerly owned by the Compagnia dei Salaroli, Bologna, and datable to ca. 1615-18. In the painting St Borromeo appears behind the Blessed Riniero. Flanked by St Matthew on the left and the Blessed Riniero on the right, the Madonna and Child are in the centre. Mary is often put in the upper part of a composition to represent her relationship between both the human and spiritual worlds.