Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time (Allegory of the Triumph of Venus)
1540-1545
Oil on wood
146 × 116 cm (57.5 × 45.7 in)
National Gallery, UK
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
Agnolo di Cosimo (1503 – 1572), usually known as Il Bronzino, or Agnolo Bronzino was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence, the son of a butcher. His sobriquet, Bronzino, in all probability refers to his relatively dark skin.
He was a court painter to Duke Cosimo I de Medici for most of his career, and his work influenced the course of European court portraiture for a century. Cold, cultured, and unemotionally analytical, his portraits convey a sense of almost insolent assurance.
He was less successful as a religious painter, his lack of real feeling leading to empty, elegant posturing in which almost every one of the extraordinarily contorted poses can be traced back to Raphael or to Michelangelo, whom Bronzino idolized. He was a much respected figure who took a prominent part in the activities of the Accademia del Disegno, of which he was a founder member in 1563.
Bronzino was also a poet.
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