Agnolo Bronzino

Agnolo Bronzino - Stamped by Jacopo da Pontormo

Agnolo Bronzino was born Agnolo di Cosimo on 17th November 1503 in Monticelli near Florence. He was the son of a butcher, but due to his early recognised artistic talent, he was initially apprenticed to the Florentine painter Raffaellino del Garbo (1466-1527) and then to the Mannerist Jacopo da Pontormo (1494-1557), who was also based in Florence. Agnolo Bronzino was 14 years old when he became a pupil of Pontormo and worked with him on several frescoes in Florence between 1522 and 1525. Pontormo is said to have included Bronzino as a child figure sitting on the steps in his series on Joseph in Egypt, which is now in the National Gallery in London. Pontormo's influence on Agnolo Bronzino's painting style and understanding of art was considerable and the two worked together for almost a lifetime. This circumstance has made the attribution of some works considerably more difficult for researchers.

As court painter to the Medici, he almost never left Florence

For two years, Agnolo Bronzino worked for Francesco Maria I della Rovere (1490–1538), the first Duke of Urbino from the House of Della Rovere and his son and follower Guidobaldo II della Rovere (1514–1574), and returned to Florence in 1533 where he became court painter to the Medici. In the small circle of intellectuals, writers and artists brought together by Cosimo I de' Medici (1519–1574), the well-read and cultured Agnolo Bronzino found an environment where he could develop and unfurl. Having read the works of such authors as Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Pietro Bembo (1470–1547) und Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), he also composed stories himself and belonged not only to the St Lucas Guild but also the Florentine Academy. Bronzino rarely left Florence, except for a longer trip to Rome where he studied the art of Michelangelo (1475-1564), and a visit to Pisa. 

Portraits - Key works of Mannerism

Agnolo Bronzino worked at a time when the Florentine painters began to develop their own style. Bronzino himself created strong contrasts and sometimes slightly exaggerated limbs, as in his famous Mannerist masterpiece Portrait of a Lady in Red (circa 1533), the identity of whom is still unknown. It is only one of many outstanding portraits that Bronzino painted of the Medici family as well as Florentine nobles and numerous artists. They were so well loved that they were multiplied in his workshop as variations and copies, whereby Alessandro Allori (1535–1607) in particular – the artist’s favourite student and later adopted son – played a key role. As well as the celebrated portraits, Bronzino also created a number of religious scenes, especially altar pictures and frescoes, for the churches of San Lorenzo and Santa Maria Novella in Florence, amongst others. 

Agnolo Bronzino died on 23rd November 1752 in Florence.