“Ricco di tanto ardire”: A Contextual Study of Agnolo Bronzino’s Portrait of Lodovico Capponi

Abstract

AGNOLO BRONZINO ’S (1503–72) Portrait of Lodovico Capponi (1534–1614) in the Frick Collection in New York is one of the few portraits by the master in which the sitter has been securely identified (fig.1). Yet, like Bronzino’s other works, in the literature the painting is considered enigmatic and its dating varies considerably, ranging from 1548 to 1559, while mostly given a generic customary dating of 1550–55. Actually, the smooth and sophisticated brush and the reusing of details that characterize Bronzino’s oeuvre throughout make it difficult to establish an objective chronology and distinguish a neat stylistic development. Likewise, the overt idealization of his sitters’ traits makes it hard to grasp their age. Thus, in the critical literature the estimate of Lodovico Capponi’s age, as well as that of other sitters, diverges considerably. Lodovico is represented almost life size in three-quarter length, as a proud, selfassured young aristocrat, luxuriously dressed in the colors of the Capponi coat of arms. He wears a black taffeta jerkin adorned with velvet stripes on top and white satin braghe alla sivigliana below, and he stands in front of a radiant green hanging. In his left hand he holds a pair of gloves, and in his right hand is either a cameo or miniature portrait of a woman discretely blocked off from the beholder’s view by his index finger, while on its frame is written sorte (fate, fortune).