"The oil on canvas presents an unusual and dynamic composition of a serene Madonna alongside her energetic child with a reverent Saint John pressed up close in the painting's foreground."
"Such confidence is down to the painting matching a work described in Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists, the mid-16th collection of biographies often considered the first book of art history."
"Paintings by Rosso are exceedingly rare and many of his most celebrated works remain undocumented or unfinished, giving the work the added distinction of having been part of art-historical discourse since the discipline's inception."
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has acquired Rosso Fiorentino's earliest known painting, Madonna and Child with Saint John the Evangelist, dating from 1512-13. This oil on canvas was considered lost for centuries and was rediscovered after conservation. The painting matches a description in Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists, which indicates it launched Rosso's career. Rosso's works are rare, and many remain undocumented. The painting's historical significance is enhanced by its mention in early art discourse.
Read at Artnet News
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