The Author's main purpose is to re-evaluate and recognize the contribution of Jacopo Pontormo within the history of art and, more specifically, Italian Renaissance. While the first sections provide the context of his personal life and career as the pre-eminent painter in mid-sixteenth century Florence, further chapters trace Pontormo's stylistic development from High Renaissance classicism through his anti-classical explorations. An introduction to Pontormo also provides a series of brief biographies of Pontormo's 20 key paintings which support this development.