3-002-650 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Madonna and Child with Four Saints, 1480-1490. This 'tondo' (circular painting) depicts the Madonna and Child flanked by four saints. The saints are (from left to right) John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, with his customary reed cross and animal-skin shirt; Sebastian, with an arrow in his neck, a reference to his martyrdom; Margaret, with a rosary and the dragon she is said to have subdued; and Mary Magdalen, with the jar of ointment she is said to have used to anoint Christ’s body after the crucifixion.