MICHELANGELO Buonarroti
(b. 1475, Caprese, d. 1564, Roma)

Madonna and Child with the Infant Baptist (Taddei Tondo)

1505-06
Marble, diameter: 82,5 cm
The Royal Academy of Arts, London

This tondo explores the problems of composing a meaningful group within a circle, with a precise definition of the spatial planes and relationships within the picture space. The Doni Tondo, his only finished panel painting, and another marble relief, the Pitti Tondo deal with the same problems.