Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John

Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John, painted around 1620 and held by the Musei di Strada Nuova, represents Strozzi's early Genoese period — before his move to Venice — and his synthesis of the Counter-Reformation devotional image with the warm, tactile Baroque style he was developing. The Madonna and Child with the young Baptist was a grouping made famous by Raphael and Leonardo in the previous century, and Genoese patrons expected painters to engage with that tradition while updating it to contemporary Baroque taste. Strozzi's version replaces the smooth Raphaelesque idealism with warm flesh, physical tenderness, and the slightly dishevelled naturalism that marks his individual contribution to the subject. The Strada Nuova palaces — now the Musei di Strada Nuova — were the grandest private residences in Baroque Genoa.

Canvas with warm, fleshy technique indebted to the Flemish Baroque that Rubens had introduced to Genoa on his 1607-08 visit. Mother and children are rendered with the physical intimacy of Strozzi's best religious work — soft, breathing flesh rather than marble or wax. The palette centres on warm ochres, reds, and cream whites.