Domenico Puligo - The Virgin and Child with John the Baptist and an Angel

This depiction of the Virgin and Child accompanied by the young Saint John the Baptist and an angel is a characteristic example of Domenico Puligo's devotional images. Puligo was taught by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio and then began working in the studio of Andrea del Sarto, the leading artist in Florence in the early Cinquecento. As a young artist he also witnessed the development of the Mannerist style under Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino.
The influence of early Florentine Mannerism is evident in this depiction of the Virgin and Child. Federico Zeri, who confirmed the traditional attribution of this panel to Domenico Puligo, compares it to a painting of the same subject in the Wadsworth Atheneum (inv. no. 1991.2). Ridolfo Ghirlandaio's style is also evident in the figure of the Christ Child, which is based on the depiction of the boy in Ghirlandaio's altarpiece “St. Zenobius Saving a Boy” (Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence).