The Holy Family with Young Saint John

Domenico Beccafumi was one of the first and most important Tuscan artists to work in the Mannerist style. He began his career painting in a style close to artists of the turn of the century such as Fra Bartolomeo and Perugino. After a period in Rome his work shows the influence of Michelangelo and Raphael.

This work is an early example of the Mannerist style of the 1530s and 1540s. The composition is based on a triangular structure, marked out by the Virgin and Child. Beccafumi uses typical Mannerist colours in the lime green and blue of the Virgin’s robe, as well as the pale pink other dress and the touches of orange. Also following the pale colour scheme, the artist has made the Virgin’s hair blonde. The two children, Christ and the St John the Baptist, are depicted as classical putti.