Holy Family

Pontormo completed this Holy Family around 1522-1525, departing significantly from traditional depictions of the subject. Instead of showing Mary holding the infant Jesus, Pontormo places the child in Joseph's hands, emphasizing his role as an adoptive paternal figure. This choice reflected a growing interest in Joseph's place within the Holy Family during the sixteenth century.

The composition removes the figures from any recognizable setting, placing them instead in a psychological void that would become characteristic of Mannerism. The mysterious smiles of the figures show Leonardo da Vinci's influence, as does the use of chiaroscuro and sfumato. Yet the overall rhythm breaks from the harmony favored by Pontormo's earlier masters, inspired partly by Dürer's woodcuts.

Pontormo, along with Rosso Fiorentino and his student Bronzino, helped initiate the Mannerist movement in Florence. A preparatory drawing for this painting survives in the Uffizi's collection. The painting itself is currently in a private collection.