"Madonna and Child with St. John" painting on wood panel 16th century.

Oil painting on panel "MADONNA WITH CHILD AND SAN GIOVANNINO" of extraordinary elegance and refinement. In the center of the scene, from a dark background, emerges the Virgin Mary depicted with a gentle, serene face as she holds the naked Child Jesus in her arms, covered only by a white cloth. To the viewer's right appears a young St. John the Baptist, recognizable by his camel skin and staff with cross, who tenderly turns his gaze toward Jesus. The features of the faces are delicate and idealized, the complexions pale and smooth with pearly hues, the mouths rosy in the shape of a heart, the noses slender. The eyes are shiny, perfectly symmetrical, with well-calibrated reflected light, and show high technical mastery. The mouths of the Madonna and St. John are small, shaped by a few strokes, as seen in many official portraits of sixteenth-century Florence. The curly hair of the Child Jesus and St. John are painted with small curved brushstrokes, giving a soft but controlled rendering, typical of a skilled artist attentive to the pictorial surface. The Child has a composed expression and an almost statuesque pose, reminiscent of Bronzino's aesthetic. "On the verso" bears antique initials/monogram MP, attributable to the collector's initials. The work is easily placed within the Florentine Mannerist painting of the second half of the 16th century. cm. 78x62 approx.