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Pitti Tondo

Pitti Tondo is a marble relief sculpture by Michelangelo, made around 1503 and now preserved in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence. It measures 82 cm wide and 85.5 cm high. The circular composition includes three figures: the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus and Saint John. The Virgin breaks away from the static cubic seat, while her forward-facing head gives the work strong dynamism. The two figures extend beyond the circular frame, and the pyramid-like arrangement is enriched by horizontal and diagonal lines that create a lively sense of plasticity. The child appears on the right, resting on an open book on his mother’s knees. The work was commissioned by Bartolomeo Pitti and later passed to Luigi Guicciardini before being acquired in 1823 for display in the Bargello.

Michelangelo’s Pitti Tondo relief sculpture showing the Madonna and Child with the young Saint John behind glass.
Michelangelo’s Pitti Tondo relief sculpture, shown on display behind protective glass.
June 2019 © Richard Mortel · CC BY 2.0
Pitti Tondo marble relief showing a seated woman with two children.
Michelangelo’s Pitti Tondo, a circular marble relief of a seated woman with two children.
April 2018 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Michelangelo’s Pitti Tondo relief showing the Madonna and Child with the young St. John.
Michelangelo’s Pitti Tondo, a circular relief of the Madonna and Child with the young St. John.
June 2019 © Richard Mortel · CC BY 2.0
Pitti Tondo relief showing a seated woman holding a book with a child at her side and a smaller figure behind her shoulder.
The Pitti Tondo, a circular relief attributed to Michelangelo, shown here in a plaster cast.
August 2018 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Close-up of Michelangelo’s Pitti Tondo showing a relief of a woman and two children.
Detail of Michelangelo’s Pitti Tondo, showing the Madonna and Child with the young St. John in relief.
June 2019 © Richard Mortel · CC BY 2.0

Identification

TitlePitti Tondo
Alternative namesTondo Pitti; Madone Pitti; Il Tondo Pitti
TypeTondo (round relief sculpture)

Historical context

Datec. 1503–1505
Place of creationFlorence
Context of creationMade while Michelangelo was working on David and before he moved to Rome in 1505

Creator

ArtistMichelangelo Buonarroti
Commissioned byBartolomeo Pitti
Work statusUnfinished; described as non finito, though scholars dispute how unfinished it is

Discovery and provenance

Collection historyHeld at the Uffizi from 1823; transferred in 1873 to the National Museum of the Bargello
Recorded in 1564Seen by Benedetto Varchi in the house of Piero, Luigi Guicciardini's nephew
Acquisition by Florentine authoritiesPurchased in 1823 for 200 scudi from Fedele Acciai
Later ownershipAccording to Vasari, Bartolomeo Pitti's son Miniato (Fra Minyato), a monk at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, gave it to Luigi Guicciardini

Location and ownership

Copies and castsPlaster casts are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
Current locationMuseo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

Physical characteristics

FormSlightly oval tondo; not perfectly round
Dimensions85.5 × 82 cm
Relief depthHigh relief

Materials

MaterialMarble

History and restoration

ConditionMany details are missing and the sides are not polished

Appearance

CompositionMary is the focal point and fills most of the composition; the oval format and her head projecting beyond the rim keep the group from feeling cramped
Mary's poseSeated on a cubic stone bench, holding an open book on her knees with her right hand and embracing her son with her left
Mary's headHer head turns to the left and projects beyond the tondo's rim
Mary's expressionHer gaze seems distracted, as if looking into the distance and meditating on her son's fate
Jesus's poseLeaning on the book in a lively contrapposto
John the Baptist's positionBarely visible in the background, behind Mary
CompositionThe work is intended to be viewed from below upward
CompositionFrequent horizontal and oblique lines create dynamism and plasticity; the overall composition is pyramidal
Depicted figuresMary, the infant Jesus, and Saint John the Baptist

Iconography and meaning

Book symbolismThe open book symbolizes wisdom and the prophecies of Sacred Scripture
Cherub symbolismA cherub on Mary's forehead symbolizes her knowledge of the prophecies
Emotional toneMaturity, sorrow, and doom
InterpretationWhen viewed from below, Mary appears as the Queen of Heaven seated on a throne of an ideal cube within the circle of the tondo
Stylistic interpretationThe unfinished background and more finished Virgin create depth and atmospheric linkage

Significance

Comparisons and influencesCompared with the Taddei Tondo, the Bruges Madonna, the Madonna of the Stairs, Donatello's Padua Madonna and Child, ancient genius figures from the Phaedra sarcophagus in Pisa's Camposanto, and works by Jacopo della Quercia; some scholars also proposed influence from Leonardo da Vinci's lost cartoon of Saint Anne and later comparison with Raphael's Madonna della Sedia
Artistic assessmentNoted for its compact, circular form, high relief, chiselled surface, and strong expressiveness; scholars have said it points toward a new classical image of man in Michelangelo's work