The Doni Tondo or Doni Madonna is the earliest of only three surviving panel paintings by the adult Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti (c. 1503), and the only one to be finished. It is in the Uffizi in Florence in its original frame, designed by Michelangelo himself. The painting was probably commissioned by Agnolo Doni, a wealthy weaver, to commemorate his marriage to Maddalena Strozzi of the Strozzis, a powerful Tuscan family. T...
more
The Doni Tondo or Doni Madonna is the earliest of only three surviving panel paintings by the adult Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti (c. 1503), and the only one to be finished. It is in the Uffizi in Florence in its original frame, designed by Michelangelo himself. The painting was probably commissioned by Agnolo Doni, a wealthy weaver, to commemorate his marriage to Maddalena Strozzi of the Strozzis, a powerful Tuscan family. The painting is in the form of a tondo, or round frame, which is frequently associated with marriage in the Renaissance.
The work was created during the period after the Roman Pietà and before the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes. It was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, as well as a work by Luca Signorelli and cameo engraved gems in the Palazzo Medici. The Doni Tondo features the Holy family (the Christ child, Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and Saint John the Baptist. The background contains several ambiguous...
less