Sacra Famiglia con san Giovannino (c.1528)

Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530)

Sacra Famiglia con san Giovannino (The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist)
c.1528
Oil on wood, 135.9 x 100.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York

With this grandly solemn composition, Sarto demonstrated that he was, indeed, “the painter without defects,” as Giorgio Vasari had deemed him. His figures are masterfully drawn, beautifully colored, and composed with an air of nobility. Giovanni Borgherini commissioned the picture at a time when Florence, having freed itself of Medici dominance, declared itself a republic. The young John the Baptist—patron saint of Florence—passes the orb to Christ, indicating him as sole ruler of the city. But in 1532 the Medici family was reinstated violently and permanently as its rulers. (MET)

Compare:

Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530)
Sacra Famiglia con San Giovannino
c.1529
Hermitage MuseumSaint Petersburg

 

 

Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530)
Sacra Famiglia Medici
c.1529
Galleria PalatinaPalazzo PittiFirenze