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Portrait of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, bust-length, in full armour, his right hand resting on his helmet oil on panel, unframed 283/4 x 23 in. (73 x 58.5 cm.) PROVENANCE Believed to have been for two or three centuries in the Anhalt Ducal collections; recorded at Schloá Ballenstedt, circa 1930. Confiscated after the 8 May 1945 and taken to the Moritzburg, Halle. Deposited at the Museum at Castle Wernigerode, from whom restituted to the heirs of Duke Joachim Ernst von Anhalt, July 2000. LITERATURE Herzogliche Katalog (mss. catalogue, circa 1930s), no. 3637, as of Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Siebenb쳌rgen ( reg. 1581-1599) by an unknown artist. NOTES Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), a great-grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent, became Duke of Florence in 1537 and Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569. This, previously unrecorded and presumably workshop version of Bronzino's prototype of the same format in the Tribuna of the Uffizi, has a distinctive merit and impact. It is not a slavish copy as the fall of the curtain is arguably closer to the three-quarter-length picture sent to Paolo Giovio in 1546 (see R. Simon, 'Bronzino's Portrait of Cosimo I', The Burlington Magazine, CXXV, September 1983, pp. 527-39 and "Blessed be the hand of Bronzino", the portrait of Cosimo I in armour', The Burlington Magazine, CXXIX, June 1987, pp. 387-8). Simon lists twenty-eight versions, including the two he accepts as autograph cited above. The demand for such portraits was met both in Bronzino's own studio and by independent artists. Some show Cosimo with the Order of the Golden Fleece, which he was awarded in July 1545, but this does not necessarily establish a terminus ante quem for portraits which, like this example, omit the Order. The bevelling at the top and bottom of the support was presumably carried out when the picture was fitted into its metal casing in the not too distant past. SALESROOM NOTICE Differing opinions have been given about the status of this hitherto unpublished painting. On the basis of photographs, Professor Janet Cox-Rearick does not believe the picture to be autograph. However after examining the picture in the original, Philippe Costamagna believes this to be a studio work, Robert Simon believes that the face and hand are quite possibly by Bronzino himself, with the armour being executed by the studio, and Everett Fahy believes it to be an autograph replica. The metal casing referred to in the catalogue note has been removed; and the support is bevelled on all sides. The picture is sold framed. The estimate should read œ100,000-150,000.