About the Artwork
The Medici, who had ruled Florence since the early fifteenth century, fell from power in 1529 following the siege of the city during the French Wars. A decade later, Cosimo I de’ Medici restored security and prosperity to the city, while undertaking a military campaign to unify Tuscany under Medici rule. Grand Duke Cosimo and his successors were active patrons of the arts, enriching Tuscan cities with works of art and architecture, and reestablishing the capital city of Florence as a major cultural center. Grand Duke Cosimo commissioned noted artists—the painter Bronzino and sculptors Giambologna and Bandini, among them—to create his official portraits. Giovanni Bandini executed five busts of Cosimo I to be placed above the portals of Florentine palaces as an honor granted to the important families who lived in them. In all examples, Cosimo is portrayed “all' antica,” wearing a mantle and cuirass in emulation of his ancient Roman Imperial antecedents. This bust epitomizes the dignified formal character of aristocratic portraiture in later sixteenth-century Italy.
Bust of Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany
ca. 1572
Giovanni Bandini
1540-1599
Italian
Unknown
Marble bust on green marble socle
Overall: 32 × 28 × 10 inches (81.3 × 71.1 × 25.4 cm)
Sculpture
European Sculpture and Dec Arts
Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund
1994.1
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
------
Provenance
possibly either for Giovanni Niccolini or for Bernardo Soderini (Florence, Italy). private collection (France)
Art Market (United Kingdom)
1992-1993, Osata Holdings (England)
1993, (Joanna Barnes Fine Arts)
1994-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
Please note: This section is empty
The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Borghini, R. Il Riposo. Florence, 1584, pp. 637-638.
Baldinucci, F. Notizie dei professori del disegno da Cimabue in qua, ed. F. Ranalli, 5 vols. Florence, 1846, pp. 3, 529.
Langedijk, K. The Portraits of the Medici: 15th-18th centuries, 3 vols. Florence 1981-1987, I, p. 463, nos. 112-116.
Avery, C. "Giovanni Bandini (1540-1599) Reconsidered." Antologia di Belle Arti 48-49 (1994): pp. 17-18.
Vosilla in Florence. 1997, pp. 30-31.
Darr, A.P. "An Early Renaissance Bronze attributed to Bartolomeo Bellano." Bulletin of the DIA 73, nos. 1/2 (1999): p. 6 (fig. 4).
Darr A.P. and T. Albainy, "Acquisitions of European sculpture and decorative arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1988 - 1999." The Burlington Magazine 142 (June 2000): p. 407 (fig. VII).
Darr, A.P., P. Barnet, A. Bostrom, C. Avery, et al. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Detroit Institute of Arts, 2 vols. London, 2002, I, cat. 105.
Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.
Suggest FeedbackCatalogue Raisoneé
Please note: This section is empty
Credit Line for Reproduction
Giovanni Bandini, Bust of Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, ca. 1572, marble bust on green marble socle. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 1994.1.
Feedback
We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
