Agnolo
Bronzino
born November 17, 1503, Monticelli, duchy of Milan [Italy]
died November 23, 1572, Florence
original name Agnolo , or Agniolo, Di Cosimo Florentine painter whose polished
and elegant portraits are outstanding examples of the Mannerist style. These
works are classic embodiments of thecourtly ideal under the Medici dukes of the
mid-16th century; they influenced European court portraiture for the next
century.
Bronzino was greatly influenced by the work of his teacher, the Florentine
painter Jacopo da Pontormo. Bronzino adapted his master's eccentric, expressive
style (early Mannerism) to create a brilliant, precisely linear style of his own
that was also partly influenced by Michelangelo and the late works of Raphael.
Bronzino served as the court painter to Cosimo I, duke of Florence, from 1539
until his death. His portraits, such as “Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo with Her
Son Giovanni” (Uffizi, Florence), are preeminent examples of Mannerist
portraiture: emotionally inexpressive, reserved, and noncommittal, yet
arrestingly elegant and decorative. Bronzino's great technical proficiency and
his stylized rounding of sinuous anatomical forms are also notable. He also
painted sacred and allegorical works of distinction, suchas “The Allegory of
Luxury,” or “Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time” (c. 1546; National Gallery, London),
which reveals his love of complex symbolism, contrived poses, and clear,
brilliant colours.
