| Painted c 1520 by Domenico Puligo (1492-1527), strongly influened by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio under whom he trained and later by Andrea del Sart and Fra Bartolommeo. The Virgin, accompanied by two angels, appearing to a seated Bernard, his hands raised in awe while sitting at a desk writing is reminiscent of the Filippino Lippi in the Florence Badia and Perugino although simpler both in composition and in the landscape setting. Puligo is closer to Filippino than Perugino in that he shows the Virgin without the Child. Here a castle is at the summit of the rocky landscape with trees and tiny figures, on the left a shepherd and his sheep and embracing children suggesting a rural idyl of peace and contemplation, and, on the right, two fighting bears symbolizing violence.
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