Adoration of the Child with Young St. John and St. Dominic and Bernard of Clairvaux

Jacopo da Sellaio's Adoration of the Child with the young John the Baptist, Saint Dominic, and Bernard of Clairvaux from 1475 belongs to the specifically Florentine tradition of Nativity scenes populated with saints from different religious orders whose presence reflects the commissioning institution's affiliations. Dominic and Bernard together signal the presence of either Dominican or Cistercian patronage, or a joint commission from two confraternities; Bernard's presence also connects to the Marian devotion he championed in his writings and sermons. The young Baptist's presence — rendered as a child companion to the Infant Christ — reflects the specifically Florentine tradition of depicting John as a young playmate of Jesus, a type popularised by Donatello's bronze Baptist and widely reproduced in Florentine painting.

Sellaio handles the multiple-figure Adoration with the competent Lippesque clarity of his training: the Virgin and Infant occupy the compositional apex, the child Baptist mirrors the Infant's proximity, and the mature saints frame the group as ceremonial witnesses rather than participants. The landscape background deploys Florentine aerial perspective in pale blue-green tones. The treatment of the figures' relationship — gesturally intimate rather than formally ceremonial — reflects Sellaio's characteristic warmth.