Madonna enthroned between Saint John the Baptist and Saint Sebastian – Galleria degli Uffizi – Florence

The work was commissioned to Perugino by the widow of the Venetian merchant Giovanni di Pietro Martini, Cornelia Salviati, and their son Roberto, to be placed in the Martini chapel in the church of San Domenico in Fiesole; the painting was then moved from the chapel in 1786 when Grand Duke Leopold bought it.

Critics believe that the painting represents a turning point in Perugino’s style: the figures in the foreground take a prominent position with respect to the context, and the landscape becomes only a complement to the immobile human figure, immersed in individual contemplations; moreover, the compositional scheme is also innovative, recalling the square altarpieces depicting Sacred Conversations dating to the mid-fifteenth century.

The Virgin, who Perugino usually depicted as a young woman in the height of beauty, is now a mature woman, whose face is simple and severe, as a result of the spiritual climate dictated by Girolamo Savonarola; to the sides, the Baptist is in ascetic pose while Saint Sebastian is caught at the peak of the suffering that draws him closer to God during his martyrdom.

The painting is preserved at Galleria degli Uffizi, in Florence.