Madonna and Child with the Young St. John the Baptist

Raffaellino del Garbo 1510

The eclectic Florentine artist painted this refined tondo around 1500; it was acquired by the Municipality in 1558. The quiet domestic scene, strongly recalling Lorenzo di Credi, shows in the foreground the enamelled figures of the Virgin with Child, and next to them the young St, John in prayer. The group is resting on a parapet, beyond which a far-reaching, hazy landscape opens up under a vast serene sky. The tondo is displayed in the room of Filippino Lippi, whose pupil Raffaellino was.

Technical information

Author: Raffaellino del Garbo
Title: Madonna and Child with the Young St. John the Baptist
Date: 1510
Material and technique: Tempera on panel
Size: diameter: 113, 5 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
First Floor

Raffaello di Bartolomeo, born in Barberino Valdelsa around 1466, was known as de’Carli from the name of a relative on his father’s side, then del Garbo, from the street in Florence where his workshop was. Vasari records him as the pupil of Filippino Lippi, with whom he collaborated on the frescoes of the Carafa chapel in Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. In the Prato painting, the earlier references to Botticelli now give way to the influence of the softer style of Lorenzo di Credi and also partly Pinturicchio, which can also be found in other early 16th-century works of his. Typical of this artist are the refined descriptive precision in the fine figures and landscape and a placid classicism, aspects which were greatly appreciated by the rich Florentine families, as the vastness of his production demonstrates. The Prato tondo was purchased in Florence in 1557 by the Municipality to decorate the old Council Room in the Town Hall with a more up-to-date image. The later frame is inspired by Renaissance artefacts.