Pontormo

Presents a rediscovered a rediscovered panel painting depicting the Vir Dolorum (Man of Sorrows), attributed to Jacopo Carucci da Pontormo

This volume presents the comprehensive scholarly study of a rediscovered panel painting depicting the Vir Dolorum (Man of Sorrows), attributed to Jacopo Carucci da Pontormo and datable to the years c. 1523–1525. Long known only through old photographic documentation and briefly discussed in the historiography following its publication by Roberto Longhi, the painting has now been fully re-examined through direct study, conservation, and scientific analysis, allowing its autograph status to be convincingly reassessed. 

The book brings together art-historical, iconographic, and technical research in order to situate the work securely within Pontormo’s oeuvre and within the broader cultural and spiritual context of early sixteenth-century Florence. Particular attention is devoted to clarifying the subject of the painting, which is demonstrated not to represent an Ecce Homo, as previously assumed, but rather the Vir Dolorum, a devotional image deeply rooted in late medieval and early modern religious practice. This clarification has important consequences for the interpretation, dating, and function of the work. 

Philippe Costamagna is a specialist in sixteenth-century Italian art and is Director of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Ajaccio, Corsica. He is the author of numerous books, including the catalogue raisonné of Pontormo. 

Viviana Farina is a Full Professor of Art History at the Accademia di Belle Arti, Naples. A researcher and exhibition curator, she is the author of numerous books and essay.