now in Ambrosiana) is in fragmentary state. Before 1508, he designed the tapestries of the Months for Gian Giacom Trivulzio (now in Castello Sforzesco). The Saint Michael Altar (or Enthroned Madonna and child with Saint Ambrogio and Saint Michael) at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, notable for the foreshortened slain man (representing an Arian heretic") before a tough-looking Saint Ambrose and giant dead frog (symbolizing Satan) with Saint Michael in the foreground and impassive saints, dates to after 1510. Freedberg sees in this painting a Leonardo-based impulse to circumscribe the painting to a world where near-abstract rigorous geometry, characterized by "looming silhouettes of imagined and unpeopled architecture, constructed with a rule and square, take increasing prominence." The figures, even when trying to betray emotion, appear vacant, distant, "automata" confined as pawns to a geometric exercise, something in common with Piero della Francesca's earlier works. Another masterpiece is the Brera Crucifixion (c. 1510–1520). In 1525 Bramantino was appointed architect to the court by Duke Francis (II) Sforza, and his aid as an engineer in the defence of Milan brought him a multitude of rewards. See also Adoration of the Christ Child (Bramantino), c. 1485 Notes References Further reading Bramantino a Milano, exhibition catalogue (at the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, 2012, eds. Giovanni Agosti, Jacopo Stoppa, Marco Tanzi External links Bramantino 'Madonna and Child' on Joel Garten's blog Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Bramantino (see index) 1450s births 1530s deaths 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters 15th-century Italian architects 16th-century Italian architects Architects from Milan Renaissance painters Painters from Milan Tapestry artists Italian textile artists