About the Artist

Also called Agnolo Cosimo di Maiano or Agnolo Tori, was one of the most famous representatives of Florentine Mannerisms. He was a student of raffellino del Garbo and Jacopo Pontormo. Later he was also inspired by Michelangelo, whose works he became familiar with during a trip to Rome in 1546/47. From 1530 to 1533 he was employed as a painter by the duke of Umbria, Guidobaldo da Urbino, in Pesaro. Upon his return to Florence he soon became a popular artist, and was appointed court painter of the Medici in 1540. At first Bronzino was very much influenced by work of Pontormo, but later turned to strict, objective methods of composition. By employing the paint as an autonomous element, he achieved the cool character of his pictures, which remain vivid and realistic. Besides religious and allegorical subjects, he also painted many portraits. Other works by bronzino include The Martyrdom of St Lawrence, 1529 San Lorenzo, Florence; Pygmalion and Galatea, 1529, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome; and Frescoes in The Chapel of Elenora of Toledo, 1545-1564, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.