\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx345\tx1050\tx1770\tx2475\tx3180\tx3885\tx4590\tx5310\tx6015\tx6720\tx7425\tx8130\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 Italian painter.
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\pard\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 Left an orphan, in 1508 Jacopo Carucci, known as Pontormo after the village where he was born, went to Florence, where he frequented the workshops of Leonardo da Vinci, Mariotto Albertinelli and Piero di Cosimo. Howeve
r, it was chiefly under Andrea del Sarto that the painter received his training, entering his workshop in 1512. Right from his earliest works (\i Scene in the Hospital of San Matteo\i0 , Florence, Accademia; \i Visitation\i0 , Florence, Annunziata), in w
hich the artist reinterpreted the classicism of Andrea del Sarto in personal tones, the sense of disquiet that characterizes PontormoÆs work is evident. Between 1513 and 1514 Pontormo contributed to the decorations set up to celebrate the entry of Pope L
eo X into Florence, establishing a tie with the Medici family that would last for the rest of his life. In 1518, with the Pucci Altarpiece\i \i0 in San Michele Visdomini, PontormoÆs style reached a decisive turning point: the painting is filled with ten
sion. The \i Scenes from the Life of\i0 \i Joseph\i0 (London, National Gallery), dating from the same years, show the influence of Northern European painting, known to him through engravings. Between 1519 and 1521 Pontormo frescoed the lunette represen
ting \i Vertumnus and Pomona\i0 in the villa of Poggio a Caiano, belonging to the family Medici. The outbreak of plague in Florence drove the painter to seek refuge at the Galluzzo Charterhouse, just outside Florence, where in 1523 Pontormo painted the
frescoes with \i Scenes from the Passion\i0 in the cloister, rich in Northern European influences. For the same monastery the artist painted the \i Supper at Emmaus\i0 (Florence, Uffizi) in which realistic characteristics are blended with a tendency to
ward mysticism. The masterpieces of his maturity are the decoration of the Capponi Chapel in Santa Felicita at Florence and the \i Visitation\i0 in the parish church of Carmignano, among the finest examples of early Florentine Mannerism and expression o
f an intellectual and visionary approach to painting. PontormoÆs final years, spent painting the now lost frescoes in the church of San Lorenzo at Florence, are characterized by the melancholy sense of isolation that is also recorded in the artistÆs diar
y. It is also worth recalling the intense portraits painted by Pontormo, including the \i Youth\i0 (Lucca, Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi) and the \i Halberdier\i0 (New York, Frick Collection).
