In the context of Venetian Renaissance painting, Palma the Elder is first and foremost the author of solemn Sacred Conversations set in the natural landscape and of sensual female figures. These two types of room paintings were especially widespread in Venice, but the contribution of the artist from Bergamo was fundamental to their success. In the Carrara painting, Palma takes the traditional scheme of the Sacred Conversation from Bellini; however, here the figures are not isolated from each other, they do not sit in silence meditating on the Holy Scriptures, but communicate animatedly with each other. Also new is the monumentality of the Virgin and Magdalene, which in their luxuriant beauty recall the florid half-length female figures protagonists of numerous subsequent works by the artist.