Circle of Agnolo Bronzino

(Monticelli 1503–1572 Florence)
Portrait of Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici in armour (1519–1574),
oil on panel, 24.8 x 17.7 cm, framed
Provenance:
Vernon James Watney collection, Cornbury Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, 1860–1928 (according to a label on the reverse);
thence by his son, Oliver Vernon Watney, Cornbury Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire (1902–1966);
his sale, Christie’s, London, 23 June 1967, lot 18 (according to literature);
bought by Betts;
with Robert Finck, Brussels, 1967;
Private European collection

Literature:
V. J. Watney, A Catalogue of Pictures and Miniatures at Cornbury and 11 Berkeley Square, Oxford 1915, no. 43 (as Bronzino);
K. Langedijk, The portraits of the Medici, Florence 1981, vol. I, p. 414, cat. no. 27-19-k, not illustrated (as a bust copy or replica after Bronzino);
R. B. Simon, Bronzino’s portrait of Cosimo I in armour, in: The Burlington Magazine, vol. 125, 1983, p. 536 no. 3, not illustrated (as a late derivation from Bronzino)

The present painting relates to the composition by Agnolo Bronzino in the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence (inv. no. 09 00021653).
Specialist: Mark MacDonnell