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Alfonso Lombardi (Ferrara, c. 1497 – Bologna, 1537) worked in Bologna until the end of his days and received important commissions in Emilia and Rome. A skilled portraitist, his clients included Federico II Gonzaga, lord of Mantova and Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici, nephew of Pope Leo X and cousin to Clement VII. In his works he turned away from the realistic modelling dear to fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Emilian artists, favouring a monumental classicism inspired by Raphael’s last period. This is evident in the Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelistexecuted in 1524 for the Confraternity of Saint John the Baptist in Faenza. The majestic group, that has been here since the Pinacoteca opened its doors, clearly recalls Raphael’s art with the ample draperies, and the charm and elegance of the faces and poses. The Saint Jerome at Prayer was created for the study of Fra Sabba da Castiglione, humanist, scholar and “commendatore” of the Order of Malta in Faenza. The artist added a seal to the clasp on the saint’s robe, which he also used later on letters he sent to Federico II Gonzaga.