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| Artist | Attributed to manner of Allori, Alessandro (Italian painter, 1535-1607) |
| Previous attributions | Previously attributed to Geeraerts, Marcus, the younger (Flemish painter, 1561-1635, active in England) Previously attributed to Italian (Florentine) School |
| Title | Portrait of Isabella Medices Ursina |
| Date earliest | 1558 |
| Date latest | about 1600 |
| Material | oil on canvas |
| Measurements | 67 x 52.7 cm |
| Inscription | front uc 'ISABELLA MEDICES VRSINA' |
| Description | Isabella was a Medici, the daughter of Duke Cosimo I, and married Paolo Giordano Orsini, Prince of Bracciano, in 1558. She returned to Florence in 1562 to run her father's household after his wife's death. It was said of her that 'Wit, beauty and talent made her conspicuous among all the ladies of the day, she captivated every heart but her husband's. Speaking French, Spanish and Latin fluently, a perfect musician, singing beautifully, a poetess and improvisatrice by nature, Isabella was the fairest star of the Medici' (Young, A.R., The Medici, vol. II, p. 313). She was however, murdered by her husband at the insistence of his mistress, Vittoria Accoramboni. Alessandro Allori was a pupil of Bronzino and there is a painting of Isabella attributed to him which has the same head in the same attitude but with a different dress and without collar and jewels. |
| Subject | portrait (Medici, Isabella de') |
| Collection | Touchstones Rochdale Art Gallery |
| Current accession number | ROCDG:1223 |
| Acquisition details | Transferred from Heywood Library 1974. |
| Provenance | Given by Thomas Kay to Heywood Library 1912. |
| Principal publications | Kay, T., Descriptive Catalogue of Pictures, Heywood Municipal Art Gallery and Museum, 1911, cat. no. XL, p. 63. |
| Notes | Previously attributed to Marcus Geeraerts (the younger), the work was reattributed to sisteenth century Florentine school by Christie's in 1991. The work was then attributed in 2000 by Phillips to a follower of Alessandro Allori. Research by Godfrey Evans (Dept. Museum Studies, University of Manchester), c.1980: 'At least two portraits of Isabella were painted by Bronzino (1502-72), one as an infant ( Dowager Viscountess Galway's Collection in Serlby Hall) and as a young girl (in Stockholm). Whilst a connection with Bronzino is probable - confirmed by a comparison of the format, attitude, and treatment of dress and jewels with Laudomia de' Medici (Ziffici, Corsini Gallery and Poggio a Caiano) - it would seem more likely to have been painted by one of his pupils. Alessandro Allori was a pupil of Bronzino and there is a painting of Isabella already attributed to him which sold at the King of Wartemberg's sale, Stuttgart, 1919. It has the same head in the same attitude but with a different dress and without the collar and jewels'. |
| Rights status | Touchstones Rochdale Art Gallery |
| Author | Lisa Howard |
