La Descente de Croix

Rosso Fiorentino finished this altarpiece in 1521, for a chapel in the cathedral of the small Tuscan hill town of Volterra. He was about 27, and it looks like nothing painted before it. The body of Christ is being lowered from the cross by men balanced awkwardly on ladders, all sharp angles and cold acid colours, greens and shot pinks and blues that seem lit by a strange light. Below, the mourners come apart in grief. The Virgin folds inward, and the Magdalene throws herself at her feet. It was made for Franciscan friars whose chapel was dedicated to the story of the true cross. The picture stayed on that altar for centuries and now hangs a short walk away in the town's own gallery.