Scuola di Santi di Tito

(1536 - 1603)

oil on canvas, framed, some defects

cm 83x53

The following technical sheet of the work was created by Professor Sandro Bellesi as part of the inventory of the paintings of the Fattoria Franceschini. The work, in good condition, depicts Don Pietro de 'Medici, the youngest son of the Grand Duke Cosimo I and his wife Eleonora di Toledo, born in Florence in 1554 and died in Madrid in 1604. A haloed figure in part of mystery, Don Pietro, uncontrollable waste of his possessions, he turned out to be an elusive character dominated by an angry and authoritarian character inclined to violence. After killing his wife, his cousin Leonora of Toledo in an excess of anger due to an alleged betrayal by her, the young prince was sent in 1578 to Spain, where he remained more or less permanently until the moment of his death.. The painting, of fair executive quality, appears to be a derivation from a full-length portrait of the Medici painted between 1584 and 1586 by Santi di Tito, now preserved in the Florentine Galleries, also known in workshop derivations. Reduced to the height of the bust only compared to the original, the work in question can be assigned to the entourage of Santi di Tito and can be dated to the end of the sixteenth century.