House of Pontormo
Empoli

The original version of this painting is unknown; it is usually identified as a painting Pontormo painted for a certain “Rossino the mason” who had done some work in the painter’s house in Florence. The painting’s great value is demonstrated by the number of known replicas – there are over 25 versions – which make it one of the most-copied works of the 15^th century in Florence.

The panel will spark the visitor’s desire to see the rooms where Jacopo was born, enlivened by the family members Jacopo posed along the stairs in the background of the scene painted for Rossino.

Madonna with Child known as Madonna of the Book, third quarter of the 16^th century, oil on panel, 123×102 cm

At the time of Pontormo’s death in 1556, there was still a flourishing ceramics industry in Pontorme. A few years later, the house where he had been born was acquired to a potter specialized in cookware, Piero di Mariano del Riccio. Excavations carried out in 2022 turned up fragments of ceramics and other objects having to do with a kiln, like stands for stacking pottery during firing, mixtures for sealing the mouths of kilns, and a few maiolica and engobed ceramics for local use.

Already over 60, il Pontormo decided to start keeping a diary on Easter Sunday, 1554, jotting down details about his health, the progress of his work projects, and above all his eating habits. It was written during the period when Jacopo was frescoing the choir of the Basilica di San Lorenzo on the same sheets of paper used for the preparatory drawings. After his death, the Diary played a central role in reconstructing an understanding of his fretful personality.