"Crossing of the Red Sea"

The fresco includes multiple biblical scenes. The figures at the center and left of the foreground represent the Hebrews preparing for exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:33-39), while those in the background represent the Hebrews having safely crossed the Red Sea. The figure in blue in the background, Moses, is gesturing for the waters to return to normal and, in the process, drown the Egyptians who are pursuing the Hebrews (Exodus 14:21-29). An aged Moses appears again in the right-hand foreground, with a brown robe, grey beard, and two rays of light radiating from his head, placing his hand on Joshua and instructing him to take over as his successor, to lead the Israelites to the promised land (Numbers 27:12-23). 

The topless male figure at the left of the foreground, who is awkwardly contorted and grasping the wrist of the seated female, is posed with his hip thrust outward in an exaggerated fashion, and one arm raised upward, which are typical elements of Mannerist positioning. In fact, the standing, topless male figure's pose is believed to have been inspired by the Idolino, a Roman copy of a Greek bronze statue discovered in an excavation of Pesaro in 1530, where Bronzino happened to be working at the time. Also, the male figure in the center who is leaning against a rock is shown with one leg crossed behind the other. It was a pose frequently used by Bronzino and ranks thus as something of an authorial motif.

The fresco "emonstrates Bronzino's masterful use of colour, his handling of 'ombre' and 'lumi' - shadows and light to create relief. The jewel-like palette is ravishing: Bronzino used intermediate hues such as violet, ultramarine, coral, soft yellows, a wide range of greens rather than the more common saturated red and blue seen, for example, in Raphael's paintings. The combination of colours in applications of cangiatismo (or colour changes in which two colours are juxtaposed) is striking  This ornamental use of colour exemplifies the decorative artificiality of Mannerism painting.