Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist 

Francesco Salviati rendered "Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist" using pen and brown ink, heightened with white gouache. The drawing presents a densely packed pyramidal structure with the figures closely interlocked, creating a sense of intimacy and monumentality. The monochromatic palette, primarily in shades of brown, enhances the composition’s textural richness. Salviati's application of hatching and cross-hatching defines the forms and adds depth, while white gouache highlights certain areas, drawing attention to the Virgin's face and the Christ Child. The artist's structural emphasis reflects the Mannerist aesthetic of complexity and artifice. The composition deliberately challenges classical ideals of balance, and the distorted proportions create a sense of dynamism. By pushing the boundaries of conventional representation, Salviati engages with broader philosophical concerns about perception and the nature of representation itself. This approach reveals how the Renaissance masters continually reinterpreted and redefined artistic conventions.