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Lot Essay
This double portrait replicates Bronzino's celebrated image of Eleonora di Toledo (1522-1562), Duchess of Florence, with her first-born son, Francesco de' Medici (1541-1587), the best version of which is in the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Reale, Pisa. Bronzino's original was likely begun circa 1548-49 and was still in progress in January 1550, as documented in contemporary correspondence (B.L. Edelstein, 'Bronzino in the Service of Eleonora di Toledo and Cosimo I de' Medici: Conjugal Patronage and the Painter-Courtier', Beyond Isabella: Secular Women Patrons of Art in Renaissance Italy, S.E. Reiss and D.G. Wilkins, eds., Kirksville, 2001, pp. 226-27). The composition presents Eleonora as a mature duchess who had borne many children: her left hand rests on her belly, while Francesco's parallel gesture identifies him as one of her children, his lower hand pointing toward her torso. The duchess wears a sumptuous zimarra, a loose outer cloak of deep purple satin with gold-embroidered bands, closed high at the neck—a garment specifically associated with pregnant women (R. Orsi Landini and B. Niccoli, Moda a Firenze 1540–1580: Lo stile di Eleonora di Toledo e la sua influenza, Florence, 2005, p. 111). The image thus served as a powerful statement of Medici fecundity and dynastic continuity.
As Karla Langedijk recorded, numerous copies of this composition are extant (K. Langedijk, The Portraits of the Medici: 15th–18th Centuries, Florence, 1981–87, vol. 1, pp. 697–98, nos. 12a–i). Carlo Falciani, who has studied the present painting most recently on the basis of digital photographs, considers it a contemporary replica. Whether the painter was an artist from the workshop or an external copyist is difficult to determine, though Falciani notes that replicas were typically produced by painters who gravitated around the master's studio and were employed to replicate his inventions (written communication, 29 July 2025).
We are grateful to Carlo Falciani for his assistance in cataloging the present lot.
As Karla Langedijk recorded, numerous copies of this composition are extant (K. Langedijk, The Portraits of the Medici: 15th–18th Centuries, Florence, 1981–87, vol. 1, pp. 697–98, nos. 12a–i). Carlo Falciani, who has studied the present painting most recently on the basis of digital photographs, considers it a contemporary replica. Whether the painter was an artist from the workshop or an external copyist is difficult to determine, though Falciani notes that replicas were typically produced by painters who gravitated around the master's studio and were employed to replicate his inventions (written communication, 29 July 2025).
We are grateful to Carlo Falciani for his assistance in cataloging the present lot.