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Alexander de Medicis and Cosmo de Medicis

Martino Rota

1552

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Allegory

Dominant colour

Alexander de Medicis and Cosmo de Medicis is a 1552 ink by Martino Rota, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: Martino Rota
When & what style?: 1552 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This engraving shows two men’s portraits at the bottom, each inside a circular frame with Latin text. Above them floats a winged figure with a lion’s mane, holding a crown and a scroll. Around her are names of Italian cities like Siena, Pisa, and Florence. The winged figure likely stands for power or protection, tying the two men to their homeland. The Latin labels name the men as Alexander de’ Medici and Cosmo de’ Medici. Next, look up the technique: engraving to see how artists like Rota carved these fine lines.

About the artist

Artist

Martino Rota

Martino Rota, also Martin Rota and Martin Rota Kolunić (c. 1520–1583) was an artist, now mainly known for his printmaking, from Dalmatia. Martino Rota was born in about the year 1520 in Šibenik (Sebenico), Dalmatia.…

See the richer artist page