The Vision of St Bernard,

The brothers Bernardo and Filippo Nasi commissioned this altarpiece for their chapel in the Cistercian church of Santa Maria Maddalena di Cestello in Florence. Accompanied by angels, the Mother of God, depicted in a classical contrapposto pose and with a pointing finger and instructing manner, appears before the saint who submissively raises his hands as a gesture of greeting. With his idealised, harmonious compositions and his supreme skill in painting in oil, the master who came from Perugia and who taught Raphael was especially highly esteemed in Florence.