Agnolo Bronzino:
Young Man
Click on the picture to see an
enlarged version.
- Tempera on Wood, 1540
- 96 x 75 cm
- Metropollitan Museum of Art, New York
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This is one of Bronzino's greatest portraits. The
self-possessed aloofness of the sitter and the austere
elegance of the Palace interior are hallmarks of the courtly
style of portraiture he created for Medicean Florence.
Although the sitter cannot be identified, he is likely a
member of Bronzino's close circle of literary friends. The
book held by the sitter in the portrait, the fanciful table
and chair, with their grotesque decorations, introduce
intentionally witty and capricious motifs: visual analogues
to the sorts of literary conceits enjoyed by this cultivated
society.
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