Martyrdom of St Maurice and the Theban Legion (detail)

The various crucifixions in the background may have been based upon a single three-dimensional small-scale model turned at different angles and actually in one case lying on the ground. Throughout the picture and especially with the nudes, Pontormo shows himself to be a worthy follower of Michelangelo, but he has not accepted the older artist’s predilection for massive proportions, favouring instead a more delicate, lyric figural anatomy.