Bronzino’s Drawings at the Met

Bronzino was, without a doubt, one of the greatest Italian painters from the late Renaissance. Inexplicably enough, he has never received a museum retrospective, an honor for which his prolific oeuvre of portraiture is particularly deserved. This premier exhibition of the man, shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a showcase of his drawings, works for which he never intended to be exhibited ?

Agnolo Bronzino, “Head of a Smiling Young Woman in Three-Quarter View,” ca. 1542–43, Charcoal and black chalk, with stumping, highlighted with white chalk; outlines partly incised for transfer; sheet: 11 5/16 x 8 1/2 in. (28.8 x 21.6 cm), Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques, Paris

The Met has more than made due with an unprecedented collection of the man’s drawings-no small curatorial feat itself, as only 60 of them are known to exist. Many of Bronzino’s works are quite beautiful unto themselves- possessing a nuanced, finished quality that was also revolutionary during the time. Many of Bronzino’s peers solely valued drafted works for their functionality, as unrestricted experiments to reference for the final, more refined product.
 

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