Master of the Madonna of Manchester Italian, c.1500

Master of the Madonna of Manchester (Florence, early 16th century)

The Master of the Madonna of Manchester was an anonymous Florentine artist from the early 16th century, a follower of Michelangelo, with a very similar style.

In 1937, Giuseppe Fiocco, an art historian and critic, published an essay in which he claimed, to the young Michelangelo, to have created this panel.

This hypothesis was later rejected by Federico Zeri, who suggested the work be credited to the Master of the Madonna of Manchester, to whom a series of paintings in a very similar style were recognised, which was never challenged.

Photo UniCredit Group (Sebastiano Pellion di Persano)