Virgin and Child with Saint Elizabeth and Saint John the Baptist

The statuesque Virgin Mary dominates a composition in which the standing Christ Child lifts a garland of flowers from his head and takes up the reed cross that foreshadows the Passion. The infant Saint John the Baptist, carrying his baptismal bowl, offers the Child a bunch of wild strawberries, at once a sign of the fruitful Christian life and a reminder of the blood to be spilled, while behind them the elderly Saint Elizabeth looks down over Mary’s shoulder. Bronzino sets the group against a mountainous landscape at daybreak, with a fortress crowning a hill at the left, and the picture is generally thought to have been painted for an acquaintance of the artist at the court of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici in Florence. The cool, enamel-like finish and the aristocratic elegance of the figures are the hallmarks of his mature mannerist style. The panel, 102.7 × 83.4 cm, is held by the J. Paul Getty Museum.