Madonna and Child

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.