ROSSO FIORENTINO
(b. 1494, Firenze, d. 1540, Paris)

Descent from the Cross (detail)

1521
Oil on wood
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Volterra

In addition to his pictorial originality, Rosso also had considerable technical skill as is demonstrated in this detail. By this time the Florentines were using oil paint effectively, but their approach depended upona thinner, highly fluid application of the paint rather than the thick impastos used by their Venetian contemporaries.