![](/media/34624/n-6453-00-000030-hd.jpg?rxy=0.527536231884058,0.47126436781609193&width=1920&height=360&v=1d654497cd5a3d0)
Image: Pontormo, 'Joseph's Brothers beg for Help', about 1515
Room 10
Dossi, Lotto and Pontormo
Paintings in this room
![The Virgin adoring the Child with Saint Joseph](/media/34108/n-3914-00-000037-hd.jpg?cc=0,0.1294979358103609,0,0.10342255959515248&width=576&height=576&v=1d65444531988e0&bgcolor=fff)
In this painting intended for private devotion, Fra Bartolommeo emphasises the humble circumstances of Christ’s birth. The Virgin kneels on the ground before the newborn Christ, while barefoot Saint Joseph watches over the baby. The makeshift stable made from the ruins of a classical building sta...
![Christ taking Leave of his Mother](/media/34225/n-4255-00-000040-hd.jpg?cc=0,0.052316076294277931,0,0.075749318801089913&width=576&height=576&v=1d6544580396510&bgcolor=fff)
Christ kneels before his mother to ask for her blessing as he prepares to leave and follow his destiny. He is robed in white against the blueish landscape, his pose conveying a sense of delicacy and stillness. The Virgin Mary swoons, her face and hands drained of colour – she knows that her son i...
![A Concert](/media/33596/n-2486-00-000048-hd.jpg?cc=0,0.082626012910314517,0,0.12627386348029118&width=576&height=576&v=1d6543f296d9a90&bgcolor=fff)
With this painting, Costa invented a type of image that would become very popular in northern Italy, particularly Venice, in the sixteenth century. The band of singers is engrossed in the camaraderie of their music; as she sings, the young woman keeps time by tapping her fingers against the marbl...
![Portrait (supposed to be of Battista Fiera)](/media/33503/n-2083-00-000024-hd.jpg?cc=0,0.0755608028335301,0,0.16883116883116883&width=576&height=576&v=1d6543e388febf0&bgcolor=fff)
The man in this portrait appears to have just turned away from the darkness surrounding him to take a look at us. His lips are slightly parted as though he might speak.An inscription on the back of the panel names him as Battista Fiera, doctor at the court of Mantua as well as a poet, though we c...
![Lamentation over the Body of Christ](/media/34155/n-4032-00-000024-hd.jpg?cc=0,0.11240812797233031,0,0.057501080847384346&width=576&height=576&v=1d866398c236ad0&bgcolor=fff)
The Three Marys mourn Christ after his crucifixion. The Virgin Mary kneels at Christ’s feet, her outstretched arms framed by her dark mantle. Christ’s crown of thorns lies on the ground, and beside it are the dice thrown by the soldiers who gambled for his clothes. Mary Magdalene kneels by Christ...
![The Adoration of the Kings](/media/34118/n-3924-00-000021-hd.jpg?cc=0.10667939814814816,0,0.10634143518518514,0&width=576&height=576&v=1d654446bd886b0&bgcolor=fff)
Unusually, Dosso has set the Adoration of the Kings at night, which provided opportunities for the flickering brushwork for which he is noted. The huge harvest moon with a pink aureole, traversed by storm clouds, casts a mysterious golden light that picks out features of the fortified town in the...
![The Lamentation over the Dead Christ](/media/33764/n-2671-00-000030-hd.jpg?cc=0,0,0.11354166666666674,0.0000000000000001263187085796&width=576&height=576&v=1d65440e1cc21a0&bgcolor=fff)
After being taken down from the Cross, Christ’s body is laid outside the cave in which he will be entombed. Nicodemus or Saint Joseph of Arimathea kneels with his hands clasped in prayer while Saint John the Evangelist supports the body of the dead Christ. The Virgin Mary stands in a gesture of s...
![The Adoration of the Name of Jesus](/media/34440/n-6260-00-000026-hd.jpg?cc=0,0,0,0.42925089179548159&width=576&height=576&v=1d65447a7183100&bgcolor=fff)
This picture may have been made as a record of a larger work by El Greco in the Escorial, which he probably painted for Philip II, King of Spain. The letters ‘IHS’ – which stand for IHSOUS, the Greek spelling of ‘Jesus’ – are its main focus.The figures in the left-hand corner are the members of t...
![The Entombment of Christ](/media/x4uitrso/l-1335-00-000001-hd.jpg?rxy=0.4848150281060397,0.6115888344624434&width=576&height=576&v=1da5b5a2c3d9ab0&bgcolor=fff)
The dead Christ, draped in white linen, is lowered into his tomb as mourners look on. Mary Magdalene and the Virgin, distraught, cradle his right arm and legs. The sculptural quality of Christ’s elongated, suspended body, based on Michelangelo’s Bandini Pietà (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence...
![The Virgin and Child with Saints](/media/33577/n-2281-00-000041-hd.jpg?cc=0,0.12521939289310891,0,0.046122860020140988&width=576&height=576&v=1d6543ef8305170&bgcolor=fff)
No other Renaissance painting of the Virgin and Child with saints shows the naked infant Christ sitting on a pillow on a coffin. This unique addition indicates Christ’s acceptance of and conquest over death. Meditation on Christ’s death encouraged understanding of his suffering for humanity’s red...
![A Woman Drinking](/media/33179/n-1125-02-000018-hd.jpg?rxy=0.55017301038062283,0.35156664896441847&width=576&height=576&v=1d6543af3bfadb0&bgcolor=fff)
This woman is most likely Sophonisba, an ill-fated but brave Carthaginian princess; she drains a glass of poison. In 206 BC Massinia allied with the Roman general Scipio to defeat the western Numidians, ruled by Sophonisba’s first husband, Syphax. Massinia fell in love with Sophonisba, but could...
![Samson and Delilah](/media/33199/n-1145-00-000020-hd.jpg?rxy=0.35423728813559324,0.40720961281708945&width=576&height=576&v=1d6543b2991c130&bgcolor=fff)
Lured by a bribe from the Philistines, Israel’s enemies, Delilah agreed to collaborate in the capture of Samson – the Israelite hero of the Old Testament, and her lover. She cut off the source of his legendary strength – his hair – while he slept (Judges 16: 18–21). Her treachery is underlined by...
![The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist](/media/34389/n-5641-00-000032-hd.jpg?cc=0,0,0,0.29411764705882354&width=576&height=576&v=1d6544723ef39e0&bgcolor=fff)
Christ is shown standing on the ledge of an oval structure, perhaps a well. He holds a crystal orb topped with jewels in his left hand and an olive branch in his right; he looks like a king or a Roman emperor. His very fine tunic clings to his body and we can see his little pot belly beneath it.C...
![The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome](/media/32968/n-0902-00-000090-hd.jpg?rxy=0.37833333333333335,0.3392857142857143&width=576&height=576&v=1d653dd745fedd0&bgcolor=fff)
This picture was part of a classical-style frieze made for Francesco Cornaro, a Venetian nobleman, in celebration of his ancestors, the ancient Roman Cornelia family. Mantegna painted the figures to look as though they are carved from stone, not painted, and set against colourful marble.In 204 BC...
![The Vestal Virgin Tuccia with a Sieve](/media/33178/n-1125-01-000028-hd.jpg?rxy=0.55709342560553632,0.34867352463454249&width=576&height=576&v=1d6543af15abba0&bgcolor=fff)
Taking careful steps, a woman comes towards us, holding what at first glance looks like a deep circular tray. She is the Vestal Virgin Tuccia and the object she carries is, in fact, a sieve.Vestal Virgins maintained the fire in the temple of the chaste goddess Vesta in Rome. Their virginity was c...
![The Virgin and Child with Saints](/media/32511/n-0274-00-000042-hd.jpg?rxy=0.4989010989010989,0.30939226519337015&width=576&height=576&v=1d653ce0405ddb0&bgcolor=fff)
The Christ Child stands on the Virgin Mary’s lap, making a gesture of blessing. She is seated under a red canopy, between John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene, who looks up towards heaven.Mary Magdalene raises up a small pot, a reminder of the spices she used to anoint Christ’s body after his deat...
![The Road to Emmaus](/media/32832/n-0753-00-000037-hd.jpg?rxy=0.52863436123348018,0.21889400921658986&width=576&height=576&v=1d653dc08fac110&bgcolor=fff)
After the Crucifixion, two of Christ’s disciples are walking to Emmaus when the resurrected Christ himself draws near and walks with them. They do not recognise him: he’s disguised as a pilgrim with a staff and a hat bearing the pilgrim’s shell (Luke 24: 13–35). When he asks why they are so sorro...
![Saint Sebastian with Saint Roch and Saint Demetrius](/media/32746/n-0669-00-000035-hd.jpg?rxy=0.48458149779735682,0.23592085235920851&width=576&height=576&v=1d653db1b33c850&bgcolor=fff)
This altarpiece is considered Ortolano’s masterpiece. In it he achieves effects of startling realism through his deep understanding of anatomy, optics and perspective. It was made for the church of S. Maria in Bondeno, a small town to the north-west of Ferrara.Saints Sebastian (centre) and Roch (...
![The Conversion of Mary Magdalene](/media/32994/n-0931-00-000044-hd.jpg?rxy=0.52333333333333332,0.40509259259259262&width=576&height=576&v=1d653ddb61dea60&bgcolor=fff)
This is one of Veronese’s earliest works, painted when he was about 18, probably for a noble patron in Verona. The lighting from the right suggests that it was made for a specific location, perhaps the side wall of a chapel.The painting’s subject has been the matter of much debate but it is now b...