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Angels pull back a rich canopy to reveal a scene of Mary and Jesus in a pastoral setting. This work dates from the 1490s, after Botticelli’s religious crisis turned him from the famed mythological scenes of his brilliant youth.

This portrait, quasi-Flemish in pose and detail, yet glowing with a sense of human psychology typical of Leonardo, has been said to be of various subjects, but most likely depicts a musician of the Sforza court. It is almost certainly by Leonardo, but probably retouched over the years.

Reproductions of pages from these oversized tomes reside inside glass-topped tables. They are filled with Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches.

This courtly tumble of the three kings kissing the toes of baby Jesus in his manger was part of Frederico Borromeo’s original collection, a complex work from 1560 that the cardinal described as “a school for painters”.

If this looks familiar, it is because, especially early on, Luini was almost slavishly devoted to the manner of his master Leonardo da Vinci, and in fact this painting is based on a famous drawing by Leonardo.

The Venetian master Jacopo Bassano was turning to a densely coloured palette, rich in contrasting tones, when he produced this work in 1547.

This is the preparatory drawing for Raphael’s famous fresco of Greek philosophers with the faces of Renaissance artists.

This still life was probably acquired from Caravaggio by the cardinal during his Roman sojourn. The painting shows how Caravaggio was, even at the age of 25, perfecting the hyper-realism he would soon apply to large canvases and more complex scenes.

This is the most dramatic of the over half-dozen Bril works on display, showcasing how Bril managed to work with the early 17th-century’s most popular sacred scenes but set them in his beloved, intricately executed landscape form.

The Milanese sculptor Bambaia carved this series of small marble panels with delicate figures surrounded by military accoutrements and mythological creatures, all in extraordinary high relief. This is but a part of the work; most of the monument is in the Castello Sforzesco.