Jacopo Potormo 1494-1557

Jacopo Potormo (Jacopo Carucci), full of restless movement and disconcertingly irrational effects of scale and space - put him in the vanguard of Mannerism. In 1518 he completed an altarpiece for the Church of San Michele Visdomini, Florence, that also reflects its agitated - almost neurotic - emotionalism a departure from the balance and tranquillity of the Renaissance.

The emotional tension apparent in his work reaches its peak in Potormo's masterpiece, the altarpiece of the Entombment (c.1526-28) in the Cappella Capponi at Santa Felicità, Florence. Painted in extraordinarily vivid colors and featuring deeply poignant figures who seem lost in a trance of grief.

From Web Gallery of Art

Potormo's Deposition, Capella Capponi, Santa Felicita, Florence 1528

Potorno's altar panel in San Felicita is so extraordinary in color and composition, that I allow myself to break my rule: it is not a fresco.

Potormo is considered a Mannerist and hence is often overlooked. I passed by Santa Felicita many times until one day I looked inside - and discovered this superbly restored altar. - It has become one of my favorite paintings. At times I believe that the women surrounding Christ are different views of one and the same woman - including Christ!

The altar is framed by an al fresco Annunciation also by Potormo