Justice of Zaleuco

Perino del Vaga, one of Raphael's most talented assistants, painted this Justice of Zaleuco around 1521. After Raphael's death in 1520, Perino continued developing his master's legacy, bringing an increasingly decorative Mannerist style to both fresco and panel painting. The tempera-on-panel medium required a carefully gessoed surface and was painted in fine, precise layers, yielding a luminous, jewel-like surface of great durability.

The panel shows Perino's sophisticated composition with the graceful figure types and refined decorative sense inherited from Raphael's workshop, enriched by his own Mannerist elegance.