Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist and an Angel

This panel is characteristic of the late development of this artist and of Ferrarese painting toward mid-century. While active in Bologna in the 1520s, Girolamo had proved one of the first and most successful artists in the region to assimilate currents of the most advanced Central Italian style, particularly from Giulio Romano after his relocation in nearby Mantua. Back in his native Ferrara over the following two decades, the power and distinctiveness of Girolamo’s first manner were overtaken by a more precious and formulaic elegance. In typical, small-scale religious works like the present one, there are still the figure types and iridescent passages recalling Romano’s influence, but the description is less coordinated, the color more local, and the execution more cautious. This same development, from progressive experiment toward conservative production, can also be observed in the later work of the city’s other principal painters, Garofalo and the Dossi brothers.