Portraits of Agnolo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi

A group of classical deities gather in the heavens, gesturing downward as water falls from the clouds to submerge the world. Below, a small circular temple stands on a high point while the heads of drowning people are visible in the rising floodwaters. The painting is executed in a monochromatic, sketch-like style on the reverse of a wooden portrait panel.

This scene depicts the narrative from Ovid's Metamorphoses where the gods decide to end the human race via a flood. In the context of Renaissance Florence, such images explored the relationship between celestial planetary forces and the fate of the material world.