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Agnolo Bronzino Research Paper

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Opening: Agnolo di Cosimo, better known as Agnolo Bronzino (1503–1572), was a 16th century Florentine painter of the mannerist movement. Bronzino was trained in the arts by Jacopo da Pontormo, and indeed, adapted many of his skills from his master. Eventually, Bronzino developed an avant garde style that would define the mannerist movement over the century. Bronzino was, and still remains today, renowned for his enigmatic courtly portraiture and allegorical narratives. For a good portion of his career he remained under the employment of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (r. 1537–1569) [see Fig. 1]. Bronzino was first and foremost a portraitist, though, his allegorical art can by no means be discredited. In fact, his narrative artworks displayed …show more content…

This portrayal undoubtedly alludes to the ancient Roman god Janus [see Fig. 7]. Though, unlike Janus, Prudence’s extra face is not identical, nor even the same gender, to her frontal. Actually, Smith recognizes the secondary face as a hidden portrait of Cosimo I [see Fig. 1] (393). (The duke’s cameo may explain why Bronzino didn’t render Prudence in a revealing manner, as doing so would have been offensive.) Truly, Bronzino was always a portraitist at heart and the implementation of the duke further strengthens the interpretation made earlier. Moreover, Bronzino’s reference to Janus may hint at the god’s ability, in folklore, to view the past while simultaneously anticipating the future (Smith 393). An ability surely correlated with Prudence, hence the reference to Janus. Certainly, Prudence ensures the reign of Happiness is possible with such power.
Behind Prudence, a blindfolded woman can be observed fleeing the scene in terror, whom has been identified as Envy (Smith 393). In similar fashion to Justice, Prudence tramples on another anthropomorphic vice. In this case, Bronzino depicted a sneering jester holding a cudgel, distinctly recognized as Folly—the direct antithesis of Prudence herself (Smith 393). Like Fury and Deceit, Envy and Folly posed a hefty hazard to the rule of Happiness and were dealt with accordingly. To be sure, there can be …show more content…

He playfully raises his golden arrow up to Happiness’s left breast, almost as if he were to prick it, innocently unknowingly that doing so would cause her harm. Cupid, of course, has become synonymous with love; even in mythology, the deity was described as the winged child-god of that emotion (Kleiner 107). Clearly then, love and happiness go hand-in-hand, though, Bronzino often infused multiple ways of perceiving his work, and Allegory is no exception. Thus far in the analysis, it’s clear Bronzino paid great homage to classicism, and Cupid’s gesture recalls ancient references. Specifically, his gesture recalls a narrative from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Smith 392). “For while the boy, Cupid, with quiver on shoulder, was kissing his mother, he innocently scratched her breast with a loose arrow.”4 However, as is clearly ascertained from the excerpt, Bronzino did not draw directly from Ovid’s play. In Allegory, Cupid is neither kissing nor inappropriately fondling Happiness. That being said, this reference holds significance in that Happiness was not only modeled on Felicitas, but also on the goddess Venus (La France 348). Cupid was the son of Venus, and the aforementioned mother-son tenderness of Cupid and Happiness solidifies this comparison. Further strengthening this proposition is Bronzino’s fascination with Venus, as seen in many of his earlier works of art [see Figs.

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