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拍品專文
This marble profile portrait of the young Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574), likely made soon after he was named duke of Florence in 1537 at the age of seventeen, is attributed here to the Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli, who began working with Cosimo shortly after his accession, and who quickly became the duke’s preferred sculptor, a relationship that lasted until the end of the artist’s life in 1560.
The earliest images of Cosimo made around the time of his accession show him in profile view. For example, Jacopo da Pontormo’s black chalk drawing in the Uffizi records a young, lean and unbearded Cosimo in profile facing left. Despite its simplicity, the image captures the sitter’s essential features, including his intense gaze and strong jawline. Although Cosimo’s appearance in the present relief is quite similar to that in the Pontormo drawing, the relief was clearly made some time later, as the duke appears to be older: his face is fuller and he has begun to grow a beard. Cosimo is represented in a similar fashion in two marble reliefs from the workshop of Bandinelli, formerly in the grand-ducal collections and now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence.
The current lot is further animated by the indication of the iris and pupil of the eye, creating the illusion that Cosimo is looking upward. In the present relief, the iris and pupil appear as a single unit, created by scooping away the marble. The unusually close cropping of the present relief, which cuts the portrait off at the top, left, and bottom, and the smooth, polished edges of the marble slab, suggest that the work was cut down at some point in its history. It is possible that the relief might once have included a frame, and that the portions of the portrait that overlapped the frame were removed when the frame was cut away.
The likelihood that the present relief was cut down suggests a larger original context for the work, an idea that is supported by the lively appearance of Cosimo, as well as by the comparatively small dimensions of the relief. While the format of the profile portrait recalls timeless images of emperors on coins and cameos, the animation of Cosimo’s hair and beard and his upward glance suggest that he is interacting with someone or something. It is possible that, like the profile portraits of Bandinelli and his wife on the artist’s tomb, the present relief was once paired with a pendant relief of Cosimo’s wife, Eleonora of Toledo (1522-1562), perhaps within an ensemble created to commemorate their marriage in 1539, although no such relief of Eleonora is known.
We are grateful to Dr. Eike Schmidt and Jeanette Sisk for their significant contributions to this essay.
The earliest images of Cosimo made around the time of his accession show him in profile view. For example, Jacopo da Pontormo’s black chalk drawing in the Uffizi records a young, lean and unbearded Cosimo in profile facing left. Despite its simplicity, the image captures the sitter’s essential features, including his intense gaze and strong jawline. Although Cosimo’s appearance in the present relief is quite similar to that in the Pontormo drawing, the relief was clearly made some time later, as the duke appears to be older: his face is fuller and he has begun to grow a beard. Cosimo is represented in a similar fashion in two marble reliefs from the workshop of Bandinelli, formerly in the grand-ducal collections and now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence.
The current lot is further animated by the indication of the iris and pupil of the eye, creating the illusion that Cosimo is looking upward. In the present relief, the iris and pupil appear as a single unit, created by scooping away the marble. The unusually close cropping of the present relief, which cuts the portrait off at the top, left, and bottom, and the smooth, polished edges of the marble slab, suggest that the work was cut down at some point in its history. It is possible that the relief might once have included a frame, and that the portions of the portrait that overlapped the frame were removed when the frame was cut away.
The likelihood that the present relief was cut down suggests a larger original context for the work, an idea that is supported by the lively appearance of Cosimo, as well as by the comparatively small dimensions of the relief. While the format of the profile portrait recalls timeless images of emperors on coins and cameos, the animation of Cosimo’s hair and beard and his upward glance suggest that he is interacting with someone or something. It is possible that, like the profile portraits of Bandinelli and his wife on the artist’s tomb, the present relief was once paired with a pendant relief of Cosimo’s wife, Eleonora of Toledo (1522-1562), perhaps within an ensemble created to commemorate their marriage in 1539, although no such relief of Eleonora is known.
We are grateful to Dr. Eike Schmidt and Jeanette Sisk for their significant contributions to this essay.