Madonna of the Harpies

The Virgin stands on a carved pedestal holding the Christ Child and a book, two small angels clinging at her feet, with Saint Francis and Saint John the Evangelist gathered at her sides in grave, monumental calm. The little demons carved on the base, taken for harpies, gave the picture its name. Often counted del Sarto's masterpiece, it shows his full command: the pyramidal grouping, the glowing shot color, the figures softly dissolved at their edges, all balanced with a sureness that earned him the title of the faultless painter. A High Renaissance sacred conversation, Florentine to its core.