15 December 2010

Cosimo I de' Medici in Armour by Agnolo Bronzino




The Portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici is a painting by the Italian artist Agnolo di Cosimo, known as Bronzino, finished in 1545. It is housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy.

In his positions of court painter of the Medici, Bronzino was author of several portraits of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici. In this one Cosimo is represented in his young years and, in the words of Giorgio Vasari, "clad with white armor and a hand over the helmet". The portrait has been identified as the one executed in the Villa of Poggio a Caiano in 1545 and mentioned in some letters.

The portrait is devised to show the dominant and proud temperament of the Grand Duke, with a side light shining on his face and on the metallic armor.

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