Virgin Mary with Child between Saint Barnabas and Saint Sylvester

Ludovico Buti 1577

Audio description of the artwork

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The Virgin with Child is depicted seated between Saints Barnabas and Sylvester, protectors of the Hospital Spedale della Misericordia and Dolce di Prato. The painting was executed by Ludovico Buti for the audience chamber of the hospital. In an inventory from 1580 it is described as having a grandiose and elegant frame, designed by Buti himself, bearing the inscription “MIA” (Misericordia) and with a blue curtain covering the image. This is a very significant detail, because it denotes the importance already attached to the painting, a symbol of the unification of the two hospitals of the Misericordia and Dolce in 1545.

Technical information

Author: Ludovico Buti
Title: Virgin Mary with Child between Saint Barnabas and Saint Sylvester
Date: 1577
Material and technique: Oil on panel
Size: 99x75 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
First Floor

The artwork, dating from the artist's youthful period, is positioned in the Mannerist sphere, close to Giorgio Vasari and the painters of the studio of Francis I, especially in terms of the stylistic approach of the central group. Around 1581, Buti participated in the grotesque decoration of the first corridor of the Uffizi as an assistant to Alessandro Allori together with Giovanni Bizzelli, Giovanni Maria Butteri and Stefano Pieri. Later, approaching the style of Santi di Tito, his painting began to imitate his spontaneity of language. His skills as an eclectic artist are evident in the portraits of Francesco di Marco Datini, exhibited here in the museum, and Ferdinando de' Medici, visible in the Town Hall. Both artworks, as archive documents attest, were commissioned in 1588 by the Casa Pia dei Ceppi.