Portrait of Maria Salviati de' Medici with Giulia de' Medici

This double portrait of Maria Salviati de' Medici and her daughter Giulia, painted around 1537, is among Pontormo's most moving portraits. Maria Salviati was the widow of Giovanni delle Bande Nere and mother of the young Cosimo I de' Medici, who would become Duke of Florence in 1537. The tender protectiveness of the mother's gesture toward her child gives the painting an emotional depth unusual in official portraiture. Mannerism (c.1520-1600) emerged as artists responded to—and deliberately subverted—High Renaissance ideals.

The double portrait uses physical proximity and overlapping forms to express the bond between mother and child. Pontormo's restrained color palette and precise facial modeling create an intimate, psychologically complex image that transcends formal portraiture conventions.