Pontormo, Jacopo da

(born May 24, 1494, Pontormo, Republic of Florence—buried Jan. 2, 1557, Florence) Florentine painter. The son of a painter, he was apprenticed to Leonardo da Vinci and later to Piero di Cosimo and Andrea del Sarto (who exerted the greatest influence on him). The agitated, almost neurotic emotionalism of his work reflects a departure from the balance and tranquillity of the High Renaissance. His expressive style is sometimes considered an early manifestation of Mannerism. Primarily a religious painter, he also did sensitive portraits and was employed by the Medici family to decorate their villa at Poggio a Caiano with mythological subjects.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica