In the rich legacy destined for the Municipality of Milan in 1863 by the will of Antonio Guasconi, there is the small table which, with the nickname of Madonna del Libro, has become the icon of the Pinacoteca. This painting was chosen because it is one of the most intense testimonies made by Vincenzo Foppa, the undisputed leader of the Renaissance in Lombardy. The Madonna and Child emerge peremptorily from a space that becomes real thanks to the deception of the fake frame; the open book kept for a glimpse increases the illusion of the scene depicted. The quality of the pictorial material, the very personal choice of silvery gray ranges and the expressive intensity of the figures modulated in the touching face of the Madonna and in that of the Infant Jesus are grafted onto this plant of geometric wisdom. The dimensions of the painting reveal the original use of the image, probably placed in a private room at eye level. This position made it possible to read the Latin inscription that runs along the three sides of the frame, proposing the opening words of the prayer in honor of the Immaculate Conception according to the dogma professed by Pope Sixtus V, an element that allows the painting to be dated no later than 1475. .