Explore the Portraiture of this artwork, Deposition of Christ (Bronzino).
In addition to embedding donor portraits and likenesses of themselves in their works, sixteenth-century Florentine artists were known to portray other artisans and associates in their paintings and sculptures. Since neither Bronzino nor his Medici employers documented the existence of embedded portraits in this work, art historians have postulated a number possibilities based on comparisons with other known portraits. Janet Cox-Rearick suggested that the central figure of Mary of Clopas was an idealized portrait of Eleonora herself and that the Virgin Mother was a representation of Cosimo's mother, Maria Salviati. She also proposed that Nicodemus, the unnamed companion, and Joseph of Arimathea were, respectively, portraits of Bronzino (the artist), Pontormo (his teacher), and Baccio Bandinelli (a rival artist who had submitted a modello for the altarpiece). Elizabeth Pilliod has an alternative suggestion: the three companions from left to right are portraits of Giovambattista del Tasso (the architect who created Eleonora's chapel), Francesco di Ser Jacopo (a financial administrator for Cosimo), and Niccolò Tribolo (another artist in the service of the Medici).
France Janet Cox-Rearick Joseph of Arimathea Mary of Clopas Niccolò Tribolo modello Baccio Bandinelli Bronzino altarpiece Maria Salviati Nicodemus donor portrait Pontormo left Giovambattista del Tasso