• Author: Alessandro Allori
• Date: 1575
• Collection: PAINTING
• Technique: Oil on wood panel
• Dimensions: 440 x 317,5 cm (with frame)
• Inventory: Inv. 1890 n.3182

This signed and dated altarpiece was painted by Alessandro Allori for the altar of the Chapel of the Spedale delle donne (Women’s Hospital) in Santa Maria Nuova in Florence at the behest of the spedalingo Don Vito Buonaccolti, who also commissioned the painter to decorate the walls of the chapel with frescoes depicting Scenes from the Creation, Prophets and Saints.

In the painting, the Virgin, seated at the centre of a monumental architectural exedra that alludes to her identification with the Church, holds the Blessing Child and points to Saint John the Baptist, who holds a honeycomb, his sustenance in the desert. At the sides, there are two personifications of the Active Life and the Contemplative Life with the figures of the six holy Virgins below. This complex iconographic scheme is explained in light of the purpose of the work in the women’s hospital. The centrality given to the Virgin and the saints emphasises their role as intermediaries for the faithful, a tenet disputed by the Protestants but reaffirmed by the Counter-Reformation.

The work’s composition displays the clear influence of Andrea del Sarto in certain figures, while the facial expressions of the characters are inspired by those of Bronzino, who was Allori’s master. The painter held leading positions at the Medici court under the direction of Giorgio Vasari and became a member of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno.