"Madonna with Child and Saints"

Instead of depicting Mary holding Jesus, as was the convention, Pontormo's decision to place the baby in Joseph's hands emphasizes his role as an adoptive paternal figure, and reflects a general rising interest in Joseph, and his role in the Holy Family, during the sixteenth century.

The use of chiaroscuro and sfumato shows Da Vinci's influence, as do the mysterious smiles of the figures and the poses of the Christ child and little St. John. On the other hand, the composition departs from the harmony and balance favored by Pontormo's former masters, and demonstrates rather an attempt to experiment with a novel sort of rhythm, inspired in part by Dürer's woodcuts of the Passion. Likewise, the painting shows further progression toward Mannerism by removing the figures from any sort of recognizable or naturalistic setting, instead placing them in a void, psychological space that lacks perspective. Here, the figures take up the entire frame, adding to the sense of suffocation, compression, and agitation created by the swirling composition and twisting body positions.