Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Giuliano de’ Medici
c.1478–1480
Tempera on panel, 75.5 x 52.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Shown from the chest up, a man with pale, yellow-tinged skin is angled to our right with downcast eyes in this vertical portrait painting. He is cleanshaven with chin-length black hair. There is a deep vertical crease in the center of his forehead between dark brows. His eyes are hazel brown, and he has a long, hooked nose over slightly parted, pale pink lips. He wears a high-necked, red tunic with deep pleats down his chest. The arm closer to us has a fawn-brown sleeve. He is shown behind a narrow ledge where a brown, dove-sized bird with an ivory-white belly sits on a twig in the lower left corner. A window opening behind the man has two wooden shutters. The shutter to the right is closed, and the one to the left is pushed open so a sliver of pale sky is visible.
This portrait of young Giuliano de’ Medici was likely painted after his murder in 1478. The downward tilt of his head, lowered eyelids, half-open window, and turtledove on a dead branch can all symbolize death. Giuliano and his brother Lorenzo I de’ Medici were targets of an assassination plot. Members of the Pazzi family wanted to remove the Medicis from power.
They were attacked in the Duomo (cathedral) of Florence during High Mass on Easter. Lorenzo escaped with wounds, but Giuliano was killed. Portraits of Lorenzo (such as this painted terracotta bust) were made to show citizens that he was still alive and in power. Those of Giuliano were commemorative. (NGA)
Compare:
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Giuliano de’ Medici
1478
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Ritratto di Giuliano de’ Medici
c.1478–1480
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
See also:
• Giuliano de’ Medici (1453-1478)