Jacopo Pontormo

You haven’t seen pink and orange until you’ve seen the work of this determined Mannerist eccentric. After the initial shock, though, you’ll meet an artist of real genius, one whose use of the human body as sole means for communicating ideas is equal to that of his good friend Michelangelo.

Born Jacopo Carucci, he is best known as Jacopo Pontormo from his birthplace near Empoli (1494–1556). He was a pupil of Andrea del Sarto alongside Rosso Fiorentino, both of whom worked with Andrea in the Choistro dei Voti in Santissima Annunziata. Afterwards, the careers of two great Mannerists careers would diverge. Rosso travelled widely and died in France. Pontormo would spend most of his life in Florence, except for 1523-25 when he fled the plague and worked for the monks at the Certosa del Galluzzo.