The Dei Altarpiece by Rosso Fiorentino
Video in Italian | A masterpiece by the master of 16th-century Mannerism
In the Iliad Room of the Palatine Gallery of Pitti Palace is the "Dei Altarpiece", a large altarpiece by Rosso Fiorentino, originally painted for the nearby church of Santo Spirito.
When entering the collection of Grand Prince Ferdinando de' Medici at the end of the seventeenth century, the painting was enlarged by his trusted court painter Niccolò Cassana, who adapted the work to the new baroque frame thus catering to the Grand Prince's request.
It is a masterpiece where the master of Mannerism put on stage a Sacred Conversation through the use of vibrant colours. The saints are arranged in a semicircle around the Virgin and Child, just like in Raphael's Madonna del Baldacchino.
