PROVENANCE: Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace; Gans Collection, Frankfurt; Gift of the Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation to BJU, 1965.

Bonifazio was the student of Palma Vecchio and, of course, was influenced by the three great early Venetian Renaissance masters: Bellini, Titian, and Giorgione. In 1530 he established himself by joining the city's guild of painters and soon after became head of his teacher's workshop. Bonifazio, in turn, taught a number of important painters including Jacopo Bassano, the most celebrated painter in a family of artists from Bassano, near Venice.

In 1984, Pepper called this painting "an extremely impressive example of Venetian painting" bearing the strong imprint of Palma Vecchio. The frieze-type composition with a landscape background and the subject matter are typical of Bonifazio's work. Developed in the mid-15th century, a sacred conversation is a grouping of the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints. Before this time, polyptychs were the traditional form of altarpiece, created with the Virgin and Child in the middle, flanked by saints in smaller individual panels. Each figure was separated by architectural framework while smaller, related narrative scenes were depicted in a predella below. Renaissance artists slowly began to merge the separated figures and to reduce the hierarchy of scale by placing all of the figures in a singular contextual setting. This practice created an imaginary event bringing together members of the Holy Family and personages from other time periods. The figures in this genre of conversazione were aware of each other and shared a common emotion, typically one of meditation.

During the 16th century in Venice , a landscape became the favored environment for this type of grouping. Here are Zacharias, Elizabeth, the infant John the Baptist, Mary, the infant Jesus, Catherine, another female martyr, Andrew, and Jerome.

The plethora of symbolism is part of the lingering Gothic convention. Some of the symbols are goldfinches (Christ's suffering), baby rabbits (defenselessness), a butterfly (resurrection), palm branches (martyrdom), laurel wreaths (victory), and a lion (faithfulness or friendship).