The mysterious story of a pair portrait of Bronzino: Why the hero of the picture was almost executed and how he avoided it

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

"Portraits of Bartolomeo and Lucrezia Panchiatica" is an excellent example of the early period of Bronzino's work. Giorgio Vasari describes the two portraits as "so natural that they seem really alive." Who are these people? And what interesting fact is hidden in the biography of the hero of Bronzina's painting?

About the artist

Agnolo di Cosimo (1503-72), better known as Bronzino, was born in Florence in 1503. After training with Rafaellino del Garbo, an early Florentine Renaissance painter, Bronzino became a student of Jacopo Pontormo, the founder of the Florentine Mannerist style. The latter ultimately had a major influence on the evolving style of Bronzino.

When the plague broke out in Florence in 1522, Pontormo took Bronzino's apprentice to the Certosa (Carthusian monastery) in Galuzzo, Villa Medici in Careggi, where they worked together on a series of frescoes. In the mid-1520s, Bronzino and his mentor Pontormo also worked together on an order for the small Capponi chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita (Florence).

It is believed that Bronzino mainly served as an assistant to his teacher in the work on the frescoes "Annunciation" and "Descent from the Cross", which adorn the main walls of the chapel. But this is more of a mystery. Vasari wrote that half of the work belongs to Bronzino's brush. The style of the two masters is so similar that scientists are still arguing about the authorship of each fresco. Bronzino's work is often referred to as "ice" portraits that create a chasm between the subject and the viewer. Subsequently, Bronzino received the patronage of the Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo Medici, thanks to the creation of exquisite decorations for the duke's wedding with Eleanor di Toledo.

It is impossible not to mention his famous work "Portrait of Eleanor Toledskaya with her son", which became an outstanding example of portrait painting. The work of Bronzino's court service was well received in society and influenced European court portraiture. The Duke of Medici also commissioned Bronzino to paint the private chapel of Eleanor, which he began building in 1545 and completed twenty years later. The artist painted several portraits of Eleanor and two portraits of Eleanor with her sons and none with her daughters. Why? The answer is simple - the image of the heirs of the Medici in the ceremonial portraits was supposed to demonstrate the confidence of the Medici dynasty in its future.

Working with the Medici

Bronzino worked in Florence during that golden period, when two great names dominated the art of the city: Medici and Michelangelo. In 1532, the Florentine Republic was abolished and Duke Alessandro Medici became the head of the Medici principate. Florence's first family dominated economic, political and cultural life and led a complex court culture in which Bronzino's portraits - from Cosimo I's wife Medici to Biya, Cosimo's illegitimate daughter - were crucial. Bronzino worked in the shadow of Michelangelo, who was then living in Rome, but from time to time carried out orders in Florence. From 1520 to 1534, Michelangelo received a sculptural project over the Medici tombs - high monuments of art.

Portraits of Bartolomeo and Lucretia Panchiatica

"Portraits of Bartolomeo and Lucrezia Panchiatica" is a fine example of the early period of Bronzino's work. Giorgio Vasari describes the two portraits as "so natural that they seem really alive."Both works are not dated, but it is generally accepted that the artist painted them at the very beginning of the 1540s, that is, shortly before Panchatika's departure to France. Please note that the architectural background is typical for the early portraits of Bronzino.

Lucrezia di Gismondo Pucci

Lucrezia di Gismondo Pucci married Bartolomeo in 1528. In the portrait, the artist masterfully paints her luxurious and at the same time discreet dress in a coral shade with a beige collar. The sleeves are decorated with brown satin fabrics with white lace at the wrists. The outfit emphasizes her aristocratic dignity and elegance. The gold necklace acts here not only as an indicator of the heroine's wealth, but also symbolizes her devotion and loyalty as a wife. On the necklace we see plates with the inscription “Love lasts forever”. Long and snow-white hands hold the book, and the natural beauty of a clean face is completely devoid of any unnecessary emotion. Bronzino portrays her heroine from high Florentine society with an idealized symbol of chaste beauty (note the neatly tied hair and discreet gaze) and high spirituality (book). By the way, her hands are holding the pages facing the prayers of the Virgin Mary. The long, expressive, almost distorted proportions of this portrait are Mannerist features in late Renaissance painting that go beyond the pure proportions and perspectives of 15th century Italian art.

Bartolomeo Pancatici

Bartolomeo Panchatici was a writer and diplomat. In the portrait he is 33 years old, he and Lucretia do not have children yet. They spent most of their lives in France, where Bartolomeo was sent as a diplomat. His destiny is full of unexpected twists and turns and striking events. In the 40s of the 16th century, he was in France, where he became interested in heretical ideas and became a Protestant. An unprecedented audacity for Italy at that time! It is not surprising that after the "betrayal" of the Motherland happened, Bartolomeo was recalled to Italy and secretly put on trial by the Inquisition.

The former envoy was sentenced to death. But the intervention of the influential Cosimo di Medici (Cosimo I) saved him. The execution was replaced by public repentance, to which not only Bartolomeo Pancatici himself suffered, but also his wife Lucrezia. Duke Cosimo praised the diplomat's talents. Of course, such patronage allowed Panchatica to improve his position, as well as to get the post of governor of Pistoia, despite the resonant case in his biography.