Florence’s Museo di San Marco, until recently a Dominican monastery, houses the most extraordinary art: everywhere you turn there’s a stunning Fra Angelico, or some art piece referencing the life of the fascinating monk-ruler Savonarola, or a fresco detailing a story from the Gospels.

In the Refettorio Piccolo, or small refectory, the visitors flock towards a Last Supper painted in 1480 by Domenico Ghirlandaio.  It is a magnificent work; but most people don’t notice the painting immediately to its right – and so they miss one of the most exciting contemporary twists of the Renaissance city’s rich and colourful story.

The painting is called Lamentation with Saints, and it has been dated 1550-60. By then Fra Angelico and Savonarola, both of whom lived in this monastery, were long dead; but the painter of this piece was in residence, and working hard. The painting is large and colourful: in the background are the domes and rooftops of Jerusalem, and the recently vacated crucifix of Golgotha. In the foreground, the body taken down from that cross is blue-tinged and bloody from the gash to its side. It is surrounded by women: two Marys, and two other women. Their eyes are reddened, their tears fall: the Virgin is holding a palm to her breast as though she can hardly bear the grief.