Chapter III
Florence
1504 – 1508 · the Madonna years
Moves to Florence at twenty-one. Studies Leonardo's cartoons, Michelangelo's nudes, Fra Bartolomeo's compositions. Produces over a dozen Madonnas in four years — the body of work that defines the Renaissance image of the Virgin and Child forever. Our piece carries that signature: pyramidal composition, downward-cast gaze, the child slightly turning.
