A hidden jewel
Immediately after Ponte Vecchio, on the way to Palazzo Pitti you can find the oldest church of the city: Santa Felicita. Get the chance to discover one of the hidden treasures of Forence: Pontormo’s Deposition in the Capponi Chapel.
The chapel, designed by Brunelleschi for the former owners, the Barbadori family, was bought by Ludovico Capponi in 1525 who appointed Pontormo for the decoration.
Pontormo (1494-1556) is one, if not the most representative artist of Mannerism. He rejected Renaissance balance and harmony in order to create works which portrayed the social, religious and scientific change of that difficult time of the XVI century.
The Mannerism
Mannerism can be described as “an emotional accentuation of movement and expressions of the body, eccentric composition of space with distorted perspective, anatomical exaggeration, restless variation of light and artificial color”
"The Deposition": Pontormo's masterpiece
The Deposition can be considered Pontormo’s masterpiece. He was presumably conscious of his singular artistic innovation in his painting because he built a kind of screen which for three years prevented anyone from entering the chapel so that nobody could see his elongated characters, his unnatural light, his floating figures and the contrast of his intense colors.
Enjoy this simply magnificent maseterpiece and do not forget to look for Pontormo’s bearded self-portatrit located in the middle-right side of the painting and to admire the hauntingly beautiful Annunciation, located on the side wall (a window separates Mary and the Angel).
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