This painting is an early copy of a portrait by Raphael of Giuliano de Medici, Pope Leo X's younger brother. Giuliano sat for his portrait so that it could be sent to Philiberte of Savoy, the aunt of Francis I of France, to whom he had become engaged. As the couple had not yet met the portrait gave her an idea of his appearance. The match was a political one. Pope Leo was hoping to cement the alliance between the French and the papacy. Portraits were often included in the diplomatic arrangements of such dynastic marriages.
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Title:Giuliano de' Medici (1479–1516), Duke of Nemours
Artist:Workshop (?) of Raphael (Italian, Urbino 1483–1520 Rome)
Medium:Tempera and oil on canvas
Dimensions:32 3/4 x 26 in. (83.2 x 66 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:The Jules Bache Collection, 1949
Object Number:49.7.12
Inscription: Inscribed (lower left): R.S.M[DXI or DX]V
?Gaetano Capponi, Florence (before 1839); Baldovinetti family, Florence (sold to Brini); [Carlo(?) Brini, Florence, until 1866; sold to Maria Nicolaevna]; Maria Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess of Russia, Quarto, near Florence (1866–d. 1876); Dukes of Leuchtenberg, Quarto (from 1876); principe Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, Rome (in 1901); [Sedelmeyer, Paris, in 1906; cat., 1906, no. 56; sold to Huldschinsky]; Oskar Huldschinsky, Berlin (by 1907–25; sold through Agnew to Duveen); [Duveen, Paris, London, and New York, 1925–28; sold for $400,000 to Bache]; Jules S. Bache, New York (1928–d. 1944; his estate 1944–49; cats., 1929, unnumbered; 1937, no. 13; 1943, no. 12)
Berlin. Königlichen Kunst-Akademie. "Ausstellung von Bildnissen des fünfzehnten bis achtzehnten Jahrhunderts," March 31–April 30, 1909, no. 125 (as by Raphael, lent by O. Huldschinsky).
Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Fifth Loan Exhibition of Old and Modern Masters," October 1927, no. 17 (lent by Sir Joseph Duveen, New York).
London. Olympia. "The Daily Telegraph Exhibition of Antiques and Works of Art," July 19–August 1, 1928, no. X41 (lent by Sir Joseph Duveen, Bt.).
New York. World's Fair. "Masterpieces of Art: European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300–1800," May–October 1939, no. 294 (lent by the Jules S. Bache collection, New York).
New York. World's Fair. "Masterpieces of Art: European & American Paintings, 1500–1900," May–October 1940, no. 1 (lent by the Bache collection, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Bache Collection," June 16–September 30, 1943, no. 12.
Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. "El Último Rafael," June 12–September 16, 2012, no. 72 (as by Raphael and Workshop).
Paris. Musée du Louvre. "Raphaël, les dernières années," October 8, 2012–January 14, 2013, no. 72.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I," October 7, 2019–January 5, 2020, no. 118.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570," June 26–October 11, 2021, no. 11.
J. D. Passavant. Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi. Vol. 2, Leipzig, 1839, p. 176, under no. 114, states that the original portrait by Raphael is lost; mentions a version (possibly this one) as having been sold to a foreigner several years previously by Gaetano Capponi, Florence; notes another version by Alessandro Allori in the Uffizi, and a third, which he erroneously refers to as a fresco, in the Camuccini collection, Rome (now Northumberland collection, Alnwick Castle).
J.-D. Passavant. Raphael d'Urbin et son père Giovanni Santi. Paris, 1860, vol. 2, p. 146, under no. 107.
C.-E. de Liphart. Notice historique sur un tableau de Raphaël représentant Julien de Médicis duc de Nemours. Paris, 1867, pp. 1–16, describes going to see the picture at Brini's house with the grand duchess Maria Nikolaevna and recommending that she purchase it; notes that the painting was then on canvas pasted down on a thick panel, which was removed, along with some retouches, by the copyist and restorer Tricca; suggests that the inscription originally read "R.S.MDXIV"; identifies it as the original by Raphael.
Eugène Muntz. Raphaël: sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. Paris, 1881, p. 559, prefers to have more information before agreeing with Liphart [see Ref. 1867] that this work is the original by Raphael; confuses the version by Bronzino in the Museo Mediceo, Florence, with the copy by Allori in the Uffizi [see Notes].
Eugène Muntz. Raphael: His Life, Works, and Times. London, 1882, p. 537.
J[oseph]. A[rcher]. Crowe and G[iovanni]. B[attista]. Cavalcaselle. Raphael: His Life and Works. Vol. 2, London, 1885, pp. 321–23, tentatively identify the MMA painting as a copy; mention the versions in the Uffizi and at Alnwick Castle, one in the Turin museum, and a variant hanging with the portraits in the passage between the Uffizi and the Pitti in Florence.
J[oseph]. A[rcher]. Crowe and G[iovanni]. B[attista]. Cavalcaselle. Raffaello: la sua vita e le sue opere. Vol. 3, Florence, 1891, pp. 4–5 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1980], suggest either that it was painted under Raphael's supervision or that it is a faithful copy of Raphael's lost work, attributing it to Timoteo Viti.
Isabella Stewart Gardner. Letter to Bernard Berenson. June 7, 1905 [see Ref. Brown 1983], turns down the opportunity to buy this painting.
Bernard Berenson. Letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner. June 23, 1905 [see Ref. Brown 1983], writes that he is not surprised at Gardner's decision not to buy this picture.
Illustrated Catalogue of the Tenth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters. Paris, 1906, pp. 68–69, no. 56, ill. opp. p. 68, as the original by Raphael.
F. Wickhoff. Kunstgeschichtliche Anzeigen 3 (1906), p. 54 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1980], calls it a copy, quoting a later concurring opinion of Liphart, who had earlier pronounced it to be the original [see Ref. 1867].
Oskar Fischel. "Porträts des Giuliano de' Medici, Herzogs von Nemours." Jahrbuch der königlich preuszischen Kunstsammlungen 28 (1907), pp. 121, 126–30, ill. opp. p. 126, as in the Huldschinsky collection, Berlin; attributes it to Raphael, calling the version in the Uffizi a copy after it; because of the view of the Castel Sant'Angelo, suggests a date of 1515, when Giuliano was made Captain of the Church.
Adolf Rosenberg and Georg Gronau. Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde. Stuttgart, 1908, pp. 239, 255, 259, 267, ill. p. 118, attribute it to Raphael; date it 1514/15.
Wilhelm Bode. Die Sammlung Oscar Huldschinsky. Frankfurt, 1909, pp. 6–7, 39, pl. 1, attributes it to Raphael and dates it 1514 or 1515; gives provenance information.
G. F. Young. The Medici. London, 1913, vol. 1, pp. 394–95, ill. (frontispiece), attributes it to Raphael and dates it 1516, probably just after Giuliano's return from France.
Henriette Mendelsohn. Das Werk der Dossi. Munich, 1914, p. 189, lists the Northumberland version of this portrait among works incorrectly attributed to Dosso, and tentatively identifies the MMA painting as the original by Raphael.
Adolf Rosenberg and Georg Gronau. Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde. 5th ed. Stuttgart, 1923, pp. 240–41, ill. p. 126 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1980].
"Raphael's Giuliano Bought by Duveen." New York Times (May 6, 1925), p. 3, ill.
[Oskar] F[ischel]. "Sammlungen." Kunstchronik und Kunstmarkt, n.s., 35 (May 16, 1925), pp. 116–17, ill., attributes it to Raphael but comments on its mediocre quality.
Royal Cortissoz. Personalities in Art. New York, 1925, pp. 66–69, 74, ill. opp. p. 68, identifies it as the original by Raphael.
A[dolfo]. Venturi. Storia dell'arte italiana. Vol. 9, part 2, La pittura del cinquecento. Milan, 1926, pp. 275–77, 279–80, fig. 212, attributes it to Raphael and dates it 1514 or 1515.
Seymour de Ricci. "Raphaël en Amérique." La Renaissance 9 (December 1926), pp. 1016, 1018, ill. p. 1015, attributes it to Raphael.
Vilhelm Wanscher. Raffaello Santi da Urbino, His Life and Works. London, 1926, p. 135, no. XXIV, attributes it to Penni, identifying it with the work mentioned by Bembo in a letter of April 19, 1516 [see Notes].
R. Galleria degli Uffizi: Catalogo dei dipinti. Florence, 1926, pp. 58–59, under no. 775, mentions it as the original by Raphael under the catalogue entry for the copy by Allori.
Bernard Berenson. Cable to Frick trustees. September 10, 1927 [see Ref. Brown 1983], attributes it to Raphael and states that it is in good condition.
Andrew W. Mellon. Letter to Helen Clay Frick. [1927?] [see Ref. Brown 1983], describes his reasons for returning the picture to Duveen.
Edward Fowles. Letter to Bernard Berenson. December 14, 1928 [see Ref. Brown 1983], writes that the picture is hanging in Bache's home and that he is pleased with it.
A Catalogue of Paintings in the Collection of Jules S. Bache. New York, 1929, unpaginated, ill., as by Raphael.
"J. S. Bache Acquires a $600,000 Raphael." New York Times (March 12, 1929), p. 3, ill.
"[no title]." New York Times (March 17, 1929), p. 115, ill. (rotogravure picture section), describes it as "the only privately owned Raphael portrait of a man"; erroneously lists Bache's purchase price from Duveen as six hundred thousand dollars.
Walter Heil. "The Jules Bache Collection." Art News 27 (April 27, 1929), p. 3, ill. p. 18, dates it about 1515; describes it as "masterly and absolutely authentic".
August L. Mayer. "Die Sammlung Jules Bache in New-York." Pantheon 6 (December 1930), p. 541, ill. p. 538 (detail), attributes it to Raphael.
Lionello Venturi. Pitture italiane in America. Milan, 1931, unpaginated, pl. CCCXXXVI.
Raimond van Marle. "An Early Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici." International Studio 99 (May 1931), pp. 17–18, 84, ill., attributes it to Raphael and dates it 1515.
Bernhard Berenson. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932, p. 481, lists it as by Raphael and dates it not later than 1516.
Carlo Gamba. Raphaël. Paris, 1932, p. 103, considers it the best of the copies after the original portrait by Raphael; does not believe that the view of the Castel Sant' Angelo was conceived by Raphael.
Lionello Venturi. Italian Paintings in America. Vol. 3, Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century. New York, 1933, unpaginated, pl. 446, attributes it to Raphael and dates it 1514–15.
"Art Treasures Will Be Shown to Help Needy: Duveen, Bache, and Stephen Clarke to Display Famous Paintings at Their Homes." New York Herald Tribune (March 26, 1933), p. 20.
O[skar]. Fischel inAllgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler. Ed. Hans Vollmer. Vol. 29, Leipzig, 1935, p. 439, attributes it to Raphael and dates it about 1515; states that the view of the Castel Sant' Angelo was obviously a later addition.
Bernhard Berenson. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936, p. 414.
A Catalogue of Paintings in the Bache Collection. under revision. New York, 1937, unpaginated, no. 13, ill., as by Raphael.
"Bache Donates His Art to Public for a Museum: Home at 814 Fifth Ave. to House $20,000,000 Collection; Donor Sails Before Gift Is Revealed." New York Herald Tribune (April 29, 1937), pp. 1, 13, ill. p. 12, as by Raphael; erroneously lists Bache's purchase price from Duveen as six hundred thousand dollars.
"J. S. Bache Gives His Art Collection and 5th Avenue Residence to State." New York Times (April 29, 1937), p. 14, as by Raphael; notes it is the best known painting in the collection; erroneously lists Bache's purchase price from Duveen as six hundred thousand dollars.
Royal Cortissoz. "Prehistoric Art and Other Topics." New York Herald Tribune (May 2, 1937), p. F8, as by Raphael.
"Jules Bache Gives His $20,000,000 Art Collection to New York." Life 2 (June 28, 1937), pp. 42–43, ill. (color), as by Raphael; describes it as the "best known picture in the Bache collection"; estimates its worth as six hundred thousand dollars.
"Bache Art Works on Display Today: Former Residence on 5th Ave. Joins Front Rank of Small but Great Museums." New York Times (November 16, 1937), p. 25, ill., as by Raphael.
Royal Cortissoz. "The Great Masters in the Bache Collection." New York Herald Tribune (November 21, 1937), p. E9, as by Raphael; describes it as "heroic" in the use of "line and form and color".
Frank Crowninshield. "Jules S. Bache, the Collector." Vogue 91 (May 1, 1938), pp. 130–31, as by Raphael; erroneously lists Bache's purchase price as five hundred thousand dollars.
"Four Generations of the Bache Family." Harper's Bazaar 73 (April 1940), p. 91, as by Raphael.
W[illiam]. E. Suida. Raphael. New York, 1941, pp. 25, 29, colorpl. 10 [2nd ed., 1948, pp. 18–19, 26, colorpl. 95], attributes it to Raphael and dates it 1514–15.
A Catalogue of Paintings in the Bache Collection. rev. ed. New York, 1943, unpaginated, no. 12, ill., as by Raphael.
"Metropolitan to Get Bache Collection As Permanent Gift: $12,500,000 Paintings To Be Kept in Reconstructed Museum After War." New York Herald Tribune (January 18, 1944), p. 25, ill.
"J.S. Bache, Banker, Dies in Palm Beach: New York Philanthropist Who Gave Big Collection of Art to State Stricken at 82." New York Times (March 24, 1944), p. 19, as by Raphael; erroneously lists Bache's purchase price from Duveen as six hundred thousand dollars.
"Jules S. Bache Rites Monday at St. Thomas: Banker and Patron of Arts Dies in Florida; Gave Collection to Museum." New York Herald Tribune (March 25, 1944), p. 8B, as by Raphael.
"Art: The Bache Collection." Time 43 (April 10, 1944), p. 61.
Sergio Ortolani. Raffaello. 2nd ed. Bergamo, 1945, p. 59, dates it about 1514–15 and calls it probably the best copy after Raphael's original; notes that the view of the Castel San'Angelo must have been added by the copyist.
Richard C. Jebb. "The Classical Renaissance." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 5 (November 1946), p. 76, ill., attributes it to Raphael and dates it about 1515.
Oskar Fischel. Raphael. London, 1948, vol. 1, pp. 114, 365, believes that the head and composition were designed by Raphael, but that the execution can only be attributed to a pupil such as Giulio Romano; notes that the inclusion of the view of the Castel Sant'Angelo is completely foreign to Raphael.
Millia Davenport. The Book of Costume. New York, 1948, vol. 2, p. 494, no. 1312, ill. (cropped).
Carlo Gamba. Pittura umbra del rinascimento: Raffaello. Novara, 1949, p. LX, rejects it as the original by Raphael.
"Title to Bache Art Collection Passes to Metropolitan Museum: Some of World's Best-Known Masterpieces Hang in Group Shown as a Loan Since 1944." New York Herald Tribune (April 25, 1949), p. 3, as by Raphael; erroneously lists Bache's purchase price from Duveen as six hundred thousand dollars.
Adolfo Venturi. Raffaello. [Milan], 1952, p. 181 [see Ref. Langedijk 1983], attributes it to Raphael.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 80.
Ettore Camesasca. Tutta la pittura di Raffaello. Vol. 1, I quadri. Milan, 1956, pp. 85–86, pl. 150A, includes it among works doubtfully attributed to Raphael.
Fernanda de' Maffei. "Il ritratto di Giuliano, fratello di Leone X, dipinto da Raffaello." L'arte, n.s., 24 (October–December 1959), pp. 317–21, 323–24 nn. 64, 66, ill., attributes it to Francesco Penni, calling it a copy after the original portrait by Raphael, which she identifies as a work in the collection of Zambrini di Vallescura, Canton Ticino.
S[ydney]. J. Freedberg. Painting of the High Renaissance in Rome and Florence. Cambridge, Mass., 1961, vol. 1, pp. 177–79; vol. 2, pl. 246 [rev. ed., New York, 1985, vol. 1, pp. 177–79; vol. 2, pl. 246], calls it a ruined work and attributes the design to Raphael but believes the execution was carried out mostly by an assistant, perhaps Penni; dates it late 1514; suggests that the landscape view may be due to the influence of Sebastiano del Piombo.
Oskar Fischel. Raphael. Berlin, 1962, p. 85.
Anna Maria Brizio inEnciclopedia universale dell'arte. Vol. 11, Venice, 1963, col. 241, lists it as a copy.
Luitpold Dussler. Raffael: Kritisches Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Wandbilder und Bildteppiche. Munich, 1966, p. 53, no. 92, concurs with Maffei [see Ref. 1959] in attributing it to Penni, but disagrees with her identification of the painting in the Zambrini di Vallescura collection as the original by Raphael, calling it more probably an old copy.
Pierluigi De Vecchi inL'opera completa di Raffaello. Milan, 1966, p. 109, no. 104, ill. [English ed., 1966], refers to it as one of several copies after the original.
"Collectors' Questions: A Young Medici." Country Life (April 6, 1967), p. 770, attributes it to Raphael in discussing a portrait of the same sitter in the collection of Jerome Pycha, Los Angeles.
Simona Lecchini Giovannoni. "Alcune proposte per l'attività ritrattistica di Alessandro Allori." Antichità viva 7, no. 1 (1968), p. 50, accepts it as the original by Raphael.
Alessandro Marabottini in "Raphael's Collaborators." The Complete Work of Raphael. New York, 1969, p. 284 n. 97, fig. 104 [Italian ed., 1968], calls it an anonymous copy after Raphael's lost original, rejecting the attribution to Giulio Romano [see Ref. Fischel 1948].
S. J. Freedberg. Painting in Italy: 1500 to 1600. Harmondsworth, England, 1971, p. 470 n. 36, calls it possibly a replica from Raphael's workshop; incorrectly notes that what he identifies as the original has recently appeared on the New York art market.
Luitpold Dussler. Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of his Pictures, Wall-Paintings, and Tapestries. London, 1971, p. 41, pl. 89.
John Pope-Hennessy. "What did Raphael Paint? [review of Dussler 1971]." Times Literary Supplement (June 11, 1971), p. ?, notes that x-ray photographs prove it to be a copy.
Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. 172, 515, 608, as a copy after Raphael.
John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, [1976], p. 31, notes that this is one of the few pictures Andrew Mellon returned to a dealer.
Wilhelm Kelber. Raphael von Urbino: Leben und Werk. Stuttgart, 1979, p. 443, no. 85, pl. 85.
Federico Zeri with the assistance of Elizabeth E. Gardner. Italian Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sienese and Central Italian Schools. New York, 1980, pp. 78–80, pl. 112, discuss the various versions of the portrait, calling this one the finest and referring to it as a nearly contemporary copy; believe that all the details of the MMA composition were probably included in the original work.
Pier Luigi De Vecchi. Raffaello, la pittura. Florence, 1981, p. 259, ill., calls it a copy, possibly by Penni, of a Raphaelesque prototype.
Konrad Oberhuber. Raffaello. Milan, 1982, p. 202, no. 15, ill., calls it a copy after a lost original of 1513.
David Alan Brown. Raphael and America. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983, pp. 29, 53, 88, 90–91, 95, 103 n. 173, p. 107 nn. 323–24, 326–28, 330–31, p. 108 n. 333, figs. 41, 42 (frontispiece from another edition of Ref. Young 1913), discusses how the picture was offered to both Gardner and Mellon, and also possibly to the Frick collection, before being acquired by Bache.
Karla Langedijk. The Portraits of the Medici, 15th–18th Centuries. Vol. 2, Florence, 1983, pp. 1047–51, 1059, no. 58, 6, ill., attributes it to Raphael's workshop, possibly by Penni; identifies it as the portrait mentioned by Bembo and also probably as the portrait mentioned by Vasari [see Notes]; catalogues all the known portraits of the sitter, including ten copies after this composition.
Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny. Raphael. New Haven, 1983, pp. 162–63, pl. 172, call it possibly a workshop version.
Paola Squellati Brizio inRaffaello a Firenze: dipinti e disegni delle collezioni fiorentine. Exh. cat., Palazzo Pitti. Florence, 1984, p. 233, fig. 107.
Leopold D. Ettlinger and Helen S. Ettlinger. Raphael. Oxford, 1987, p. 188, refer to the lost original as a "state portrait".
David Alan Brown. Andrea Solario. Milan, 1987, pp. 217, 255 n. 8, fig. 160.
Alessandro Ballarin. Dosso Dossi: la pittura a Ferrara negli anni del ducato di Alfonso I. Cittadella (Padua), 1994–95, vol. 2, fig. 438, dates the lost original about 1513.
Pierluigi De Vecchi. Raffaello: la mimesi, l'armonia e l'invenzione. Florence, 1995, p. 250.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 131, ill.
Konrad Oberhuber. Raphael: The Paintings. Munich, 1999, p. 199.
Jane Bridgeman and Karen Watts. "Armour, Weapons and Dress in Four Paintings by Dosso Dossi." Apollo 151 (February 2000), p. 26 n. 23, identify the close-fitting cap worn underneath the hat as a "scuffiotto".
Corinna Höper. Raffael und die Folgen: Das Kunstwerk in Zeitaltern seiner graphischen Reproduzierbarkeit. Exh. cat., Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany, 2001, p. 240, no. B24, calls it a copy after an original of 1513.
Meryle Secrest. Duveen: A Life in Art. New York, 2004, pp. 129, 475.
Everett Fahy inArt and Love in Renaissance Italy. Ed. Andrea Bayer. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2008, p. 22, fig. 13.
Jürg Meyer zur Capellen. "The Roman Portraits, ca. 1508–1520." Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Paintings. Vol. 3, Landshut, 2008, pp. 14–16, 42, 46 n. 15, pp. 183–88, ill. pp. 81 (color), 184 (x-ray), 185, 187 (detail), argues that irregularities in the execution and pentimenti revealed in the x-ray argue against the painting being a copy although he is not certain it is the work referred to by Bembo and Vasari; assumes that it was the model for all the other copies, attributing the concept of the painting to Raphael and the execution to his workshop, probably with the participation of the master.
Brigitte Volk-Knüttel. Peter Candid (um 1548–1628): Gemälde—Zeichnungen—Druckgraphik. Berlin, 2010, p. 135, fig. 86, under no. G15, attributes it to Luca Penni.
Tom Henry and Paul Joannides inLate Raphael. Ed. Tom Henry and Paul Joannides. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2012, pp. 262–66, 269, 287, 292, 294, no. 72, ill. (color), believe it to be a damaged original by Raphael with workshop assistance.
Dipinti antichi. Pandolfini Casa d'Aste, Florence. November 26, 2019, p. 54, under no. 21.
Andrea Bayer inThe Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I. Ed. Pierre Terjanian. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, pp. 223–24, no. 118, ill. (color).
Jan Sammer. Leonardo da Vinci: The Untold Story of his Final Years. Middletown, DE, 2019, pp. 74, 78–9 n. 5, ill. p. 74 (color), suggests that the portrait was commissioned in the spring of 1514 [sic] after Giuliano de' Medici received the insignia of the Order of the Garter; notes that the sleeve of the garment worn by the sitter features a golden ribbon with diamond-shaped lozenges "whose design resembles St. George's cross, an emblem characteristic of the Order".
Keith Christiansen inThe Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570. Ed. Keith Christiansen and Carlo Falciani. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2021, pp. 109–10, no. 11, ill. (color), believes there are "grounds for identifying the Metropolitan's portrait with that seen by Bembo" and there is "no basis for the often-repeated attribution to Luca Penni".
Carlo Falciani inThe Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570. Ed. Keith Christiansen and Carlo Falciani. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2021, pp. 22–23.
Elizabeth Cropper inThe Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570. Ed. Keith Christiansen and Carlo Falciani. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2021, p. 64.
Linda Wolk-Simon inThe Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570. Ed. Keith Christiansen and Carlo Falciani. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2021, pp. 105–6, 110, 180.
Aimee Ng. "Hazardous Dukes." Apollo 194 (September 2021), p. 89.
Jan Sammer. Leonardo da Vinci: The Untold Story of His Final Years. [expanded ed.]. Prague, 2022, pp. 81–3, 88–9 ns. 37–9, ill. p. 82 (color, overall and detail) [https://en.calameo.com/read/007256701a0ac8e7d0725], revises argument from Sammer 2019 by proposing that the portrait was commissioned from Raphael shortly after March 31, 1515 to commemorate Giuliano's appointment to the Order of the Garter on February 8, 1514, the insignia for which Guliano obtained in March 1515; argues that the damaged lozenges embroidered into the left sleeve originally pictured four flowers with five petals (the Tudor rose), which Henry VIII had recently added to the Order's insignia (these are still visible in the version at the Uffizi); argues also that the red box on which Giuliano rests his hands would have contained "the remainder of the insignia he had just received".
Anne Hilker. "The Art of Rivalry: The Jules S. Bache Collection, Its Formation, and Its Donation to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1919–44." Journal of the History of Collections 36, no. 2 (2024), fig. 5 (Bache collection study chart).
Giuliano de' Medici was the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Clarice Orsini. During the exile of the Medici from Florence (1494–1512) he lived in Urbino, where he was a friend of Pietro Bembo, Baldassare Castiglione, and probably also of Raphael. In 1512 the Medici returned to Florence and Giuliano ruled as head of state for one year before relinquishing the position to his nephew Lorenzo. In 1513 Giuliano's brother Giovanni was elected Pope Leo X and Giuliano went to Rome where he was appointed Captain of the Church. In February 1515 he traveled to Turin to marry Philiberte of Savoy, the aunt of Francis I, King of France. In October/November 1515 Giuliano and Philiberte were named Duke and Duchess of Nemours. Giuliano's tomb in San Lorenzo, Florence, was sculpted by Michelangelo; it includes a statue of Giuliano above figures of Night and Day.
From mentions by Pietro Bembo (in a letter of April 19, 1516; see Wanscher 1926) and Vasari (Le vite, 1568; Milanesi ed., 1879, vol. 4, pp. 352–53), we know that Raphael painted a portrait of Giuliano, which must date from either just before or just after Giuliano's trip to Turin. The original portrait is lost but a number of copies and variants survive. The closest version to that in The Met's is a painting in the Uffizi, Florence, which is attributed to Alessandro Allori; however, it omits the view of the Castel Sant' Angelo. Other versions are bust-length only: one in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle, attributed to Giulio Romano; one formerly in the Zambrini di Vallescura collection, canton Ticino (sold, Sotheby's, Milan, June 12, 2001, no. 35); and a miniature by Bronzino in the Uffizi which depicts the sitter bare-headed. Vasari included a portrait of Giuliano based on this composition in a fresco in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. See Maffei 1959 and Langedijk 1983 for discussion and reproduction of the portraits of Giuliano.
Andrea Mantegna (Italian, Isola di Carturo 1430/31–1506 Mantua)
shortly after 1450
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The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
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We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
