Virgin Mary with Child between Saints Roch, John, Sebastian, Dominic and Leonard

Tommaso di Piero Trombetto XV-XVI sec. d.C./ fine - inizi

Audio description of the artwork

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This Sacred Conversation represents one of the most successful artworks by Tommaso di Piero Trombetto, an artist who was born and lived in Prato, the son of a trumpeter of the Municipality, and himself a trumpeter and town crier, who dedicated himself to the trade of waxworker and painter. His workshop was entrusted with numerous commissions in Prato and the area from the last decades of the 15th century until around 1530.

Technical information

Author: Tommaso di Piero Trombetto
Title: Virgin Mary with Child between Saints Roch, John, Sebastian, Dominic and Leonard
Date: XV-XVI sec. d.C./ fine - inizi
Material and technique: Tempera on panel
Size: 177x184 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
First Floor

His production is influenced by the most renowned Florentine masters, from Domenico Ghirlandaio to Botticelli to Filippino Lippi, but he appears a long way from grasping the scope of the revolutionary language of the reference models. Stylistic details and compositional elements drew inspiration from famous works and were adapted to the needs of local patrons; reconstructed for devotional-type paintings, such details contributed to the diffusion in Prato's churches and palaces of replicas of well-known artworks, including the numerous tondi with the Virgin Mary and Child, taken from Filippino Lippi, one of which is exhibited here. This altarpiece has a traditional layout with the Virgin Mary in the centre with the Child in her arms and the four saints at the sides. The architectural structure, a sort of marble niche, is embellished by the floral decoration of the silk drape and the carpet with geometric motifs, details that echo Flemish painting and Domenico del Ghirlandaio. In addition to these, Trombetto displays a particular wealth of quotations and references to other artists. In the construction of the central section with the Virgin Mary and Child standing on a cushion, he reworks quotations from Andrea del Verrocchio and Francesco Botticini, while the Saint John and the poses of some saints recall Filippino Lippi.