PULIGO, Domenico

Domenico Puligo belonged to the Florentine Mannerist movement alongside artists such as Jacopo Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino. The majority of his output focused on easel-sized pictures for private devotion, as well as a number of portraits and a small group of altarpieces.

The present painting is an example of Florentine Mannerism which took hold in the wake of the High Renaissance. The pose of the Christ Child, which recurs in several of his works, ultimately derives from Raphael’s Madonna della Tenda in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

Puligo’s paintings, including the present work, have with reason often been mistaken for the work of Andrea del Sarto, who was undoubtedly one of his main inspirations.

In his work Puligo - according to Vasari, a talented artist but little inclined to study - showed a marked interest in the work of Andrea del Sarto, from whom he drew ideas and quotations translated into a tender, suffused style.

The tart, strident red is typical of one of the experimental currents in Florence in this period. A master of this anticlassical aesthetic was Andrea del Sarto, with whom Puligo trained. Even through the fragile condition of the piece, one can still appreciate the atmospheric grace of his rendering.

This painter (actual name Domenico Ubaldini), the pupil of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, was attracted by the grandiose style of Fra Bartolomeo and Andrea del Sarto. Although he imitated these masters, he succeeded only in weakening their forms, rendering them mawkish and insufficiently incisive. This painting was traditionally attributed to Andrea del Sarto, but at the beginning of the 20th century critics succeeded in identifying the person portrayed and the painting’s definite authorship was given to Puligo.

Well-tailored and self-assured, this youth is depicted in the latest fashion of portraiture as well as clothing. Puligo, known for borrowing others’ styles, successfully adapted one of Titian’s.

The painting was earlier attributed to Andrea del Sarto.