Michele Tosini detto MICHELE RIDOLFO GHIRLANDAIO Tuscany 1503 - 1577 Florenz Madonna and child and St. John the Baptist Oil on wooden panel 92.5 x 68 cm (with frame 114.5 x 89 cm) Provenance: Private collection Geneva, Switzerland Michele Tosini was born in Badia di Passignano in Tuscany in 1503. After initial studies with the renowned painters Lorenzo di Credi and Antonio del Ceraiolo, the artist entered the famous workshop of the master Ridolfo Ghirlandaio. His skill and diligence, marked by great talent, Ghirlandaio later allowed him to take his name. He was not only a highly talented painter, but also ambitious. Thus Michele Tosini became a successful portraitist whose works were often mistaken for Bronzino's. Religious motifs and allegorical scenes were also part of his repertoire. In 1563 he assisted Giorgio Vasari in founding the Accademia del Disegno. Subsequently, the two brush virtuosos collaborated on the decoration of the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio. Not only influenced by Vasari, Michele Tosini was also inspired by elements of Michelangelo's art. In later years of his work, Tosini received several commissions to paint Florentine city gates. The artistic commission for the altar in the chapel of Villa Caserotta near San Casciano and for paintings on the tabernacle of the high altar of Santa Maria della Quercia in Viterbo also fell to Michele Tosini. After Ridolfo Ghirlandaio's definitive departure from the workshop, Tosini took it over and henceforth bore the master's name. At that time, this studio was one of the largest and most prestigious in the Medici city of Florence. The theme of the Holy Family or Mary with the two boys, like portrait painting, is one of the most important themes in the work of the painter Michele Tosini. In ever-changing variations, the artist has depicted this scenery for well-heeled clients in incomparable mania. The colors are fresh and fragrant. Mary sits in front of a landscape and the two little boys Christ and John are intimately turned to each other, while Mary reads a book. A guardian angel watches the tranquil scene over Mary's right shoulder. This is a magnificent, representative painting from the late Florentine Renaissance.