Fra Bartolommeo's “The Mystic Marriage of Saint…

Fra Bartolommeo's “The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine,” a large altarpiece painted in 1511 in his monumentalized style, combines faultless technique, complex spatial organization, and subtle use of color.

Bartolommeo’s works typically blend the geometrical compositions developed in the fifteenth century with the classical figural style that he helped to develop from Leonardo's work.

Andrea del Sarto develops new classical interests and makes greater use of sfumato.

He begins in 1511 to paint his grisaille frescoes in the Chiostro dello Scalzo.

Jacopo Sansovino, while in Rome, had attracted the notice of Bramante and Raphael and made a wax model of the Deposition of Christ for Perugino to use.

He returns in 1511 to Florence, where he receives commissions for marble sculptures of St. James for the Duomo and a Bacchus, now in the Bargello.

His “Saint James”, considered the finest of all the statues contributed to that building, derives from Andrea’s “Baptist,” but indicates the influence of both Michelangelo and Raphael.

The figure’s more twisted posture and the heavier, ornamental drapery add High Renaissance overtones.