Agnolo di C. Allori Bronzino, Lot n° 320

FIGURE OF ALESSANDRO DE' MEDICI(1510-1537), DUKE OF FLORENCE Oil on wood, central glued panel with cross-bar parquetry. 59 x 43.5 cm. The present painting is one of several earlier or later repetitions of the portrait created by Bronzino between 1565 and 1569, which is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (inventory number 1890.857). As the illegitimate son of Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, he was already ruler in Florence from 1523, appointed by his relative Pope Clement VII. According to the supposition of some historians, his mother had been a dark-skinned servant at court, which also explains why the original of Bronzino and some other repetitions have rendered the colour of his face somewhat darker than in the present picture. The Duke is shown here in the half-portrait, against a dark greenish background, slightly to the left. The lighting is concentrated on the face, under black frizzy hair, in a chain mail-like skirt, set off by a white bandana and a dark red velvet hem. This colour scheme already shows the difference to Bronzino's original painting: while the red is reproduced darkly here, Bronzino has used a brighter pink - in the typical mannerist colour scheme. A few other small details, such as the fastening chain on the doublet or the fact that in the original painting the clothing is actually reproduced like a fine chain mail, also differ. The inscription "DVKA ALESSANDRO" on the upper edge also differs from the inscription at Bronzino (there "ALEX.MED.FLO. - DVXI.LAVREN.F."). To this day, research is still discussing the separation of hands of the various repetitions of this pictorial motif, or rather their dependence on Bronzino and his workshop, so that an exact chronological classification is not always possible. It is also of interest that the identical portrait head also exists in a half-portrait of the Duke in full armour, which is located in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. (1221421) (11) Agnolo