Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Bust of Cosimo I de' Medici
Alternate Title:
Ritratto di Cosimo I de' Medici
Image View:
Detail, head and upper torso from the left
Creator:
Benvenuto Cellini (Italian sculptor, 1500-1571); Cosimo I, Grand-Duke of Tuscany (Italian patron, 1519-1574)
Location:
repository: Museo Nazionale del Bargello (Florence, Tuscany, Italy) Inv. 358 B
Location Note:
Via del Proconsolo 4
GPS:
43.770372 11.25835
Date:
1545-1548 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Renaissance
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
bronze
Technique:
casting (process)
Measurements:
110 cm (height) x 98 cm (width)
Subjects:
portrait; rulers and leaders; Cosimo I, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, 1519-1574; Medici family; portrait bust
Description:
In 1545 Cellini began work on an over life-size bronze portrait bust of Cosimo I modeled from life. By October 1547 it had been cast, but the chasing and gilding were not completed before February 1548. The bust depicts the Duke in elaborately modeled Roman armour. Cellini was vying with works from antiquity as well as with his principal rival in Florence, Bandinelli, but above all he sought to capture the disquieting personality of the sitter. The Duke, who viewed official portraits in terms of stereotypes, was incapable of appreciating the intimate, nervous image of himself that Cellini had created: the bust was kept in his private apartments until in 1557 it was sent to Portoferraio on the island of Elba. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordart online.com/)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier:
7A1-CELLINI-PC-A07
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Bust of Cosimo I de' Medici