The monumental grandeur of the figures in Michelangelo’s paintings betrays the fact that he was primarily a sculptor. Younger artists from Michelangelo’s native city of Florence, such as Pontormo and his pupil Bronzino, took up his ambitious and experimental representation of the human body to develop a new style, now often called Mannerism.

Bronzino’s elongated figures in contorted poses reflect the elegance of the new style. Such refined and graceful works suited his role as painter to the Medici Court in Florence. Pontormo’s and Bacchiacca’s paintings were originally set into furniture and panelling in the bedchamber of the wealthy Florentine banker Pierfrancesco Borgherini.