| Francisco de Goya 1746-1828 Pepito Costa y Bonells Oil on canavas,105x84.5cm Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Countess of Chinchon 1800 Oil on canvas 174.2 x 144 cm Private collection |
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| Bronzino, Agnolo1503-1572 Bia,Illegitimate Daughter of Cosimo I de 'Medici, /before1542/ Oil on wood 63 x 48cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
| Agnolo Bronzino was the leading court painter of the Florentine School in the middle of the sixteenth century. A Mannerist, Bronzino was a pupil of Jacopo Pontormo, with whom he worked on frescoes. Continuing his master's interest in light, Bronzino developed a rich feeling for color: his paintings are distinguished by a sudden burst of raspberry-red or icy-blue. His allegorical and religious works reveal an unprecedented interest in the female form. Unwilling to give his subjects any particular spiritual significance, Bronzino seemed especially drawn to the nude in seductive paintings that maintain a sense of critical drtachment. In large allegorical works, such as Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time, his pale, elongated nudes pose against a backdrop of symbolic figures and luxurious fabric. As court painter to the first absolute ruler Cosimo de Medici, Bronzino undertook the portrait of his wife and son, Eleanora Toledo and her Son. In this work, Bronzino reveals his skills as a draughtsman, brilliantly conveying the rigid hauteur of his aristocratic sitters as well as capturing the detailed patterning on Eleanora's dress." |
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| Francisco de Goya 1746-1828 Portrait of Don Manuel Osorio de Manrique Zuniga 1784-88 Oil on canvas 50 inches by 39 3/4inches Metroplolitan Museum of Art New York |
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