ABSTRACT
Over decades of study dedicated to the art of Federico Barocci, multiple investigative strategies have been used in attempting to evaluate his artistic essence and to grasp its precise nature. Although the key interpretative approaches have covered a wide range, these inquiries have focused mainly on Barocci's extraordinary ability to produce evocative devotional paintings through his use of color, light, and naturalism. Given that Federico had grown up in contact with the kilns of Casteldurante, Urbino, and Pesaro, his closeness to the Della Rovere pottery tradition is unsurprising. In creating his figures, Barocci demonstrated an up-to-date knowledge of monumental statuary such as Emilian terracotta groups that offered noble, more classical models. Because of his interest in landscape, Barocci may have also known the work of Gherardo Cibo who, in the middle of the 1560s, was deemed to be the best painter of plants by the famous botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli.
