Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Ritratto di Giuliano de’ Medici (Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici)
c.1478–1480
Tempera on panel, 59.5 x 39.3 cm
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
Initiated by his father into the profession of goldsmith and from Filippo Lippi to that of painter, at the age of twenty-five Botticelli already leads his own workshop in Florence whose most prestigious clients are the members of the Medici family. In this panel, the artist hands down to posterity the image of Giuliano de’ Medici, younger brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent and skilled knight, assassinated on April 26 1478 in Florence during the Pazzi conspiracy. To denounce and remember his death, Lorenzo had a medal struck by the family sculptor, Bertoldo di Giovanni. A marble bust was made from the funeral mask that Botticelli used as a model for the painting, of which three versions are known: this one from Carrara – perhaps the oldest, although probably not finished – and two others kept in Berlin and Washington. (ACB)
Compare:
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) & Workshop
Giuliano de’ Medici
c.1478
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Giuliano de’ Medici
c.1478–1480
National Gallery of Art, Washington
See also:
• Giuliano de’ Medici (1453-1478)