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Lot Essay
Theatricality and a cool color palette characterize this striking portrayal of the Madonna and Child against a mountainous landscape. By their side, a young John the Baptist stands on a rock, wearing the camel skin tunic that he found in the wilderness. The patron saint of Florence, John holds a makeshift cross fashioned from slender sticks and points to Christ, evoking the words that he will preach in the desert: "Ecce Agnus Dei" (John 1:29). Craning her swan-like neck, Mary gazes lovingly at her son, whom she cradles protectively as he reaches out to bestow a blessing. His serious gaze is directed toward some unseen presence outside of the picture, following a favorite Renaissance trope most famously adopted by Leonardo da Vinci in his Lady with an Ermine (Czartoryski Museum, Kraków). Christ's attitude suggests that this panel may have originally been placed on the side wall of a chapel so that he would appear to be blessing a viewer standing at the chapel's entrance. The figures' twisting poses and complex interaction lend the composition a mysterious energy that is a hallmark of Florentine Mannerism, a reaction against the rational, harmoniously balanced compositions of the High Renaissance.
Michele di Jacopo Tosini received his early training with Lorenzo di Credi and Antonio del Ceraiolo, before entering the workshop of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (1483-1561) around 1516. Giorgio Vasari writes in his 1568 Life of Ridolfo, David, and Benedetto Ghirlandaio that Michele was Ridolfo's greatest disciple and that the two loved one another as father and son, which is why he was known always as Michele di Ridolfo. Indeed, Michele and Ridolfo enjoyed a close working relationship for several decades, collaborating on multiple commissions. Vasari had high praise for Michele's paintings, describing him as "a young man of excellent nature, who executed his works with boldness and without effort" (G. Vasari, Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, trans. G. du C.de Vere, New York, 1996, II, p. 483). A founding member of the Accademia del Disegno in Florence, Michele worked with Vasari after 1556 on the fresco decorations of the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Noting the strong influence of Andrea del Sarto in the present painting, Coor-Achenbach dates this Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist to the second quarter of the 16th century (op. cit., p. 157).
Michele di Jacopo Tosini received his early training with Lorenzo di Credi and Antonio del Ceraiolo, before entering the workshop of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (1483-1561) around 1516. Giorgio Vasari writes in his 1568 Life of Ridolfo, David, and Benedetto Ghirlandaio that Michele was Ridolfo's greatest disciple and that the two loved one another as father and son, which is why he was known always as Michele di Ridolfo. Indeed, Michele and Ridolfo enjoyed a close working relationship for several decades, collaborating on multiple commissions. Vasari had high praise for Michele's paintings, describing him as "a young man of excellent nature, who executed his works with boldness and without effort" (G. Vasari, Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, trans. G. du C.de Vere, New York, 1996, II, p. 483). A founding member of the Accademia del Disegno in Florence, Michele worked with Vasari after 1556 on the fresco decorations of the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Noting the strong influence of Andrea del Sarto in the present painting, Coor-Achenbach dates this Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist to the second quarter of the 16th century (op. cit., p. 157).