1512 · Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

The Madonna with Child, emerging from ample sky-blue drapes that are extremely full and airy, is the geometric focus of this altar piece. She is sitting upright on steps, under a loggia with Tuscan columns and a panelled ceiling, and is surrounded by eight male figures: those behind her and on her left remain in the shadow of the architectural structure, lit from behind by the brightness of the background, where an architectural backdrop of classical buildings from the Middle Ages and other periods is dominated by a sky as blue as Mary's robe. The painting may have arrived at the Trivulzio family, passing through various hands, from the church of the Santissima Annunciata convent in Lacchiarella (Milan), a Franciscan convent of friars from the Amadeiti congregation, known as San Martino.Show more