Rosso Fiorentino

Rosso Fiorentino (1494–1540) (literally, ‘Florentine Red-head’) was born in Florence as Giovanni Battista di Jacopo. He was a leading practitioner of Mannerism, the highly refined sixteenth-century style which succeeded the High Renaissance style of Raphael and Leonardo. Characteristic features of Mannerism such as strong, unusual colours, ambiguous and crowded space and elongated, twisting figures are all visible here. They reflect Rosso’s admiration of Michelangelo's frescoes on the Sistine Ceiling, painted not long before this panel. After the Sack of Rome in May 1527, Rosso completed another masterpiece in San Sepolcro itself, a Deposition that reflects his horror at the violence of the Sack (which led to his imprisonment and prevented this panel’s leaving Rome to reach its intended destination). Rosso reestablished himself in 1530 at the court of Francois I at Fontainebleau, performing extensive, primarily secular, work. He died there ten years later at the age of 46, under disputed circumstances.