Luke the Evangelist

Luke the Evangelist by Pontormo, painted around 1527, was created during the period of his greatest masterpieces—the Deposition at Santa Felicita and the Visitation at Carmignano. The evangelist panels may have been part of an altarpiece or decorative scheme that combined individual saint figures within a larger program. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays acid, dissonant colors—pinks, pale greens, glacial blues—compressed spatial arrangements, figures with an almost neurotic psychological intensity, anti-classical tension in every line.

The evangelist figure is rendered with Pontormo's mature Mannerist style—elongated proportions, high-keyed colors, and intense psychological presence. The figure's alert expression conveys spiritual inspiration.