The Florentine Domenico Puligo learned in the... Lot 2

The Florentine Domenico Puligo learned in the workshop of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (1483–1561) and worked as an assistant to Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530), they became friends soon. In addition to Andrea del Sarto, Jacopo Pontormo (1494–1557) and Rosso Fiorentino (1495–1540) also influenced his style. He was a victim of the plague. The painting shows Madonna with the child in her arms, an angel dressed in green to the right behind Madonna has crossed arms in front of their chest in adoration. Maria is wearing a red dress and is wrapped in a blue coat. The child is wearing a sleeveless dress made of a transparent fabric. A strong sfumato, invented by Leonardo da Vinci and adopted and developed by many artists, gives the faces a gentle expression and a mysterious aura. After Vasari Puligo painted "dolcezza senza tignere l'opere o dar loro crudezza a poco a poco sfuggire i lontani, come velati da una certa nebbia, dava rilievo e grazia alle sue pitture" ("sweetness without affecting the works or giving them crudeness, and gradually escape from the distant, like veiled by a certain fog, gave relief and grace to his paintings ”). Puglio has worked on the theme of Maria (mostly as a half figure) with the child and angels or other accompanying figures several times. The Madonna and Child with Two Angels in the Palazzo Martelli, Florence, can be mentioned as a comparison. Franco Moro dated the picture offered here to the mature phase of the artist from approx. 1523. Expert opinion by doc von Franco Moro, 28 May 2018