This woman’s exquisite attire indicates her likely wealth and importance. Gold disks decorate the edge of her collar while rubies and emeralds adorn her hair. She wears an extravagant necklace with a large cut diamond and luxurious pearl. The fashion suggests the portrait was made in the 1570s by Alessandro Allori (1535—1607), who was one of the most prolific and active painters in late 16h century Florence. On his father's death in 1540, the young Alessandro Allori was adopted by Bronzino (1503—1572), becoming his pupil and a significant disseminator of his elegant Mannerist vocabulary.
It is possibly a representation of Camilla Martelli, mistress and later second wife of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de'Medici. Unlike other portraits depicting individuals who themselves may have collected art or created a studioli, or private studies, Camilla herself would not have had access to such a study room. However, the Medici family had one of the most celebrated studioli in all of Italy.
Alessandro Allori, Portrait of a Lady, probably Camilla Martelli de’Medici, 1570s, Saint Louis Art Museum, US @stlartmuseum#portraitpainting#femaleportrait#alessandroallori#paintingdetail#allori#femaleportraits#baroqueart#historyofart#arthistory#artoftheday#oldmasters#oldmasterpaintings#16thcentury#15thcentury#neoclassical#classicalpainting#classicart#classicpainting#artdaily#artmuseum#artdetail#artlover#italianart#renaissanceart#renaissance#arthistorydiary
Source: Wikimedia Commons & slam.org
✨ Agnolo Bronzino was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. He was also the artist of the powerful Medici family, who ruled Florence at the time.
Today we present the portrait of the little Bianca, Bia, who was the daughter of Cosimo, born before his marriage in 1539.
In 1560, Francesco Maria II della Rovere’s ambassador to Tuscany, Simone Fortuna wrote in a letter that Cosimo “in his first years as duke, had, by a noblewoman of Florence, a girl who was baptized in the name of His Illustrious Excellence, and called Bia. And the Lady Duchess, finding her in her home, was raising the girl lovingly, as she was born to her husband before she became his wife.”
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Bia de’ Medici by Agnolo Bronzino 1542-1545
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