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Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano Bronzino (1503 - 1572) Lodovico Capponi, 1550-1555 oil on poplar panel 45 7/8 in. x 33 3/4 in. (116.52 cm x 85.73 cm) Henry Clay Frick Bequest. Accession number: 1915.1.19 Currently on View: South Hall (141) Link to floorplan and Virtual Tour

Commentary: This proud young aristocrat is Lodovico Capponi (b. 1533), a page at the Medici court. As was his custom, he wears black and white, his family's armorial colors. His right index finger partially conceals the cameo he holds, revealing only the inscription sorte (fate or fortune) — an ingenious allusion to the obscurity of fate. In the mid 1550s Lodovico fell in love with a girl whom Duke Cosimo had intended for one of his cousins. After nearly three years of opposition, Cosimo suddenly relented, but he commanded that their wedding be celebrated within twenty-four hours.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.

Collections: Marchese Riccardi, Florence (?).  Lucien Buonaparte, Prince de Canino.  Buonaparte sale, May 14, 1816, Stanley’s, London, Lot 107, sold to Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier.  Pourtalès-Gorgier sale, March 27 and following, 1865, Paris, Lot 22, sold for 55,000 francs to Baron Seillière.  John Edward Taylor, London.  Taylor sale, July 5, 1912, Christie’s, Lot 14, sold for £11,340 to Knoedler.  J.H. Dunn, London.  Knoedler.  Frick, 1915.

Source: Paintings in The Frick Collection: French, Italian and Spanish.  Volume II. New York: The Frick Collection, 1968.