Madonna con il Bambino e i santi Giovannino e Caterina

Among the many works signed by the Francia brothers, who grew up in their father's workshop and created both large altarpieces and small paintings, this one is notable for the delicate sentimental rendering of the female faces, as it is for the lively interplay of looks between the two children. Here, the characteristic fixed nature of the works from the first decade of the century is attenuated, once the artists had knowledge of Raphael's methods, while the realism in the “portrait” of Saint Catherine is indicative of contact with the artistic environment in Ferrara.