Maria Tsaneva 
Il Bronzino: 80 Masterpieces 

Agnolo di Cosimo (1503 – 1572), usually known as Il Bronzino, or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. His portrait figures—often read as static, elegant, and stylish exemplars of unemotional haughtiness and assurance—influenced the course of European court portraiture for a century. In addition to images of the Florentine elite, Bronzino also painted idealized portraits of the poets Dante. Bronzino’s so-called ’allegorical portraits’, such as that of a Genoese admiral, Andrea Doria as Neptune, are less typical but possibly even more fascinating due to the peculiarity of placing a publicly recognized personality in the nude as a mythical figure. Finally, in addition to being a painter, Bronzino was also a poet, and his most personal portraits are perhaps those of other literary figures such as that of his friend the poet Laura Battiferri.