Detail, The birth of Venus, c 1484, Tempera on wood.  Ufizzi Gallery Florence

Detail, Primavera, c 1482, Grease tempera on wood.  Ufizzi Gallery Florence

Madonna of the Pomegranate
1487, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

The circular work or tondo, like the Madonna of the Magnificat also uses the Madonna and angels as a subject, but this time the Christ Child holds a pomegranate. This is a more sophisticated work than the Magnificat. The clothings worn by the figures are more refined, the colours more balanced. The painting is filled with the symbolic elements associated with Mary's purity and grace - the lilies, roses and words of the Annunication (AVE GRAZIA PLENA) - woven into the stole of the angel to the left.

Not only is this a beautiful work of art, but it is in its original frame which is an intaglio with gilded lilies on a blue field, alluding o the alliance between Florence and France. The similarity between the frame and the ceiling of the Audience Hall of the Massai di Camera in Palazzo Vecchio indicates that that is probably where the painting came from.