Descent from the Cross

Rosso Fiorentino painted this Descent from the Cross in 1521 for the Compagnia della Croce di Giorno in Volterra, one of the most radical altarpieces of the entire Renaissance. The Deposition's harsh, angular figures—arranged like a diagram rather than a natural scene—its strident, clashing color combinations, and its systematic avoidance of the harmonious beauty that defined High Renaissance painting make it a manifesto of the new Mannerist sensibility. The elongated figures, the harsh light, the isolation of each figure in their own emotional world—all create a sense of spiritual emergency and psychological dislocation. The painting was later cut into sections during a period of anti-Medicean violence, further fragmenting its already dissonant composition. It remains the defining work of early Florentine Mannerism.

The panel demonstrates Rosso's revolutionary approach with angular, geometrically arranged figures, intense color accents against shadow, and the deliberate spatial instability that makes this one of Mannerism's definitive works.