Retable Bentivoglio

In 1488 Giovanni Bentivoglio, the strongman who ran Bologna, had just survived a plot by a rival family, the Malvezzi, to wipe out his line. In thanks for the escape he had Lorenzo Costa paint this altarpiece for the family chapel. Above, the Madonna and Child sit enthroned in cool Renaissance architecture. Below, kneeling, are Giovanni and his wife Ginevra Sforza, and spread across the foreground are all eleven of their children, the daughters gathered on one side and the sons on the other. It is a votive picture and a dynastic headcount at once, showing off the whole surviving family the conspiracy had failed to destroy. Costa painted a Triumph of Fame and a Triumph of Death on the same chapel walls.