Un Rosso pour le Metropolitan
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has acquired a painting by Rosso Fiorentino, a master of Italian and French Mannerism, after restoration revealed an earlier overpaint that had obscured the composition. The work, a Virgin and Child, now shows Saint John the Evangelist in the foreground at right, confirming it as an original by the artist.
This acquisition matters because Rosso Fiorentino’s paintings are rare, often unfinished and poorly documented. The composition matches one described by Giorgio Vasari in his seminal 1550/1568 work "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects," adding art-historical significance to the discovery.