1560
oil
panel
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Dominant colour
Francesco de' Medici is a 1560 oil by Alessandro Allori, a Mannerism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
This painting shows a man holding a small cameo. He's dressed in fancy clothes and looks serious. The man in the painting is Francesco de' Medici, and what's interesting is that he's displaying a cameo of a woman, which shows his interest in collecting art and rare items. You can learn more about the artist who painted this, Alessandro Allori.
Francesco de’ Medici was the oldest son of Florentine duke Cosimo I de’ Medici and Eleanora di Toledo, great patrons of the arts who instilled the same appreciation in their children. Francesco is shown here displaying a cameo of an unidentified female figure, highlighting his interest in collecting. One of his creations as a patron was the so-called Studiolo in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, a space dedicated to the appreciation of refined, intricate works of art and scientific curiosities. Francesco succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Tuscany only grudgingly, preferring a life of…
Probably Prince Anatole Demidoff, Villa San Donato, Florence (d. 1870) [see McComb 1928; the painting may be the “Portrait de Come di Médicis” attributed to Bronzino that was sold in the March 15, 1880 sale of the contents of the Villa San Donato as lot 1387]. Sulley and Co., London [according to Townsend and Howard 1919]; sold by Sulley and Co. to Edward R. Bacon (d. 1915), New York and Netherdale House, Turriff, Aberdeenshire [according to Townsend and Howard 1919]; at his death to his sister-in-law, Virginia Purdy Bacon; sold Christie’s, London, December 12, 1919, no. 69, as Bronzino,…
James B. Townsend and W. Stanton Howard, Memorial Catalogue of Paintings by Old and Modern Masters Collected by Edward R. Bacon (New York, 1919), p. 224, n. 282. Arthur McComb, Agnolo Bronzino: His Life and Works (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1928), p. 73. Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance (Oxford, 1932), p. 116. Bernard Berenson, Pitture italiane del Rinascimento (Milan, 1936), p. 100. Andrea Emiliani, Il Bronzino (Milan, 1960), pp. 70, 336. Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Florentine School, vol. 1 (London, 1963), p. 43. John Maxon, “Some Recent…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori (Florence, 31 May 1535 – 22 September 1607) was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist Florentine school.
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