Madonna of the Harpies

The title of the painting is based on the identification of the creatures depicted on the pedestal as harpies. However, a more recent  interpretation has led art historians and scholars to view the creatures as the locusts described in St John the Evangelist's Apocalypse. Indeed, on the right of the painting we see the figure of St John himself, balancing an open book on his bent right leg, and likely in the act of writing his prophecies. 

Like all of his paintings  this work is an exquisitely-balanced composition. del Sarto's style here carries the influence of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo, whose works del Sarto studied meticulously. The elegant compositional structure carries echoes of Raphael (and in particular the pyramidal arrangement of the Virgin Mary); the monumental and statuesque bodies of the figures associated with Michelangelo; and the delicate shading of color and shadow that were trademarks of Leonardo.

The Madonna of the Harpies is a densely symbolic altarpiece. The Virgin Mary stands in the center of the composition, cradling the Christ child with her right hand, and holding a book (symbolizing her wisdom) in her left. She is flanked by two saints while two agitated putti clutch at her calves. The outward gaze of St John the Evangelist and St Francis command the devotional attention of the viewer, while the painting, which carries a rich and expressive use of color, also displays del Sarto's command of fabrics and his ability to represent them as they envelop the forms and contours of the human figure. 

This altarpiece in oils is in the  Galleria degli Uffizi