Agnolo Bronzino, Eleonora di Toledo and her son Giovanni de’ Medici. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Public domain: Google Art Project via Wikimedia Commons.

The life and inspiring works of the artist who gives your room his name: 4. Bronzino***

Agnolo di Cosimo, better known as Bronzino painted this dazzling portrait of Eleonora di Toledo and her son Giovanni de’ Medici around 1545 (top above).

You may think that Eleonora looks disdainful and aloof (as well as a little sad), but we’re sure she was friendlier in person than in her portrait, painted in the Mannerist style, which rejected naturalism and required those emotionless gazes.

And you have to realise that the painting is not about Eleonora per se but more about – that dress! It’s about showing off. Not just Bronzino showing off his wonderful technique, but the Medici telling the world who’s boss. The dress is an ‘in-your-face’ symbol of wealth and power.

The dress is of heavily brocaded silk velvet with black arabesques intertwined with gold looped strands, all painstakingly reproduced by Bronzino, as can be seen in the close-up photograph below.

Agnolo Bronzino, Eleonora di Toledo (detail). The Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Google Art Project via Wikimedia Commons.

Symbols of power, faith and fertility

You can see why Bronzino got the job of court painter. The background of the painting of Eleanora and Giovanni, for example, is not simply a plain, polychromatic blue. There are subtle variations in shade, and the blue around Eleonora’s head is lighter, creating an effect rather like a halo, suggesting that the Grand Duke and his wife were divinely blessed, all part of the process of maintaining and enhancing Medici power. The painting is also full of symbols: it is not just the sumptuous dress as an expression of wealth and power: the pomegranate motif symbolises fertility, while Eleanora’s arm on her son’s shoulder demonstrates the continuity of the Medici line.

Eleonora and Cosimo were married in 1537, when she was 17, and his attraction to her is shown by the fact that he turned down a larger dowry for her elder sister. Their loving domesticity was an example to all, and Eleonora had no fewer than 11 children by Cosimo. He was heartbroken over her death from malaria in 1562, and soon after he retired from public life, his son Francesco de’ Medici becoming Regent.

Florence’s master of mannerism

But enough of the Medici, who seem to take over everything, given half the chance. We are supposed to be talking about the artist!

Bronzino (1503-1572) lived all his life in Florence and his nickname may refer to a relatively dark skin or to his reddish hair. He trained under Jacopo Pontormo, one of the early exponents of the Mannerist school, which also included Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. But Bronzino’s figures often seen cold, composed and reserved, unlike the emotional, active and often agitated subjects of his Master, Pontormo.

As well as portraits, Bronzino also painted religious subjects and the occasional allegory, such as Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time (1544/5).

Agnolo Bronzino, Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time, National Gallery, London. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Portraits, however, were the mainstay of Bronzino’s studio, many existing in several versions, painted by the Master and/or his assistants/apprentices. Cosimo used them as gifts for visiting dignitaries or sent them out to help cement diplomatic alliances and agreements. In effect, Bronzino’s studio was the Production House for Cosimo’s power-seeking/status-maintaining public relations campaign.

Here’s a picture of the Grand Duke in armour. You can see why, in this instance, Eleonora might not have wanted to get too close for a hug!

Agnolo Bronzino, Portrait of Cosimo I de’ Medici in armour. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Google Art Project via Wikimedia Commons.

*** Who wants a number on the bedroom door when they could be staying in Botticelli, Bronzino or Brunelleschi? Or Gentileschi, Ghirlandaio or Ghiberti? Or one of another half-dozen famous Italian artists, from Alberti to Vasari?

Some years ago, we decided to switch from numbers to names in each of our rooms. They celebrate famous Italian artists, mainly from the Renaissance and mainly men, because (a) the early Renaissance is our favourite artistic period and (b) because few women were painting professionally in those days, and even fewer have become famous.

At Lois’ insistence we included Artemesia Gentileschi on our list a few years ago, and in 2026 we have introduced Sofonisba Anguissola, despite her tongue-twisting name.