PALMA VECCHIO
(b. 1480, Serina, d. 1528, Venezia)

Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene

c. 1525
Oil on panel, 71 x 108 cm
Palazzo Bianco, Genoa

This painting is one of the finest examples of the art of Palma Vecchio and of the "sacra conversazione" in Venetian high Renaissance painting. The picture is by a mature artist at the height of his powers, it is a classical masterpiece in which balance and variety, formal and chromatic beauty operate in untroubled harmony with the content of the image.