Eleonora di Toledo (1522–1562)

ArtistWorkshop of Agnolo Bronzino Italian, 1503–1572

Datecirca 1560

Mediumoil on poplar panel, transferred to canvas

Dimensions46 3/8 x 34 7/8 in. (117.8 x 88.6 cm)
Frame: 65 3/4 x 54 3/8 in. (167 x 138.1 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of Mrs. George Khuner

Object numberG.64.35.5

On View

Not on view

Label Text
Eleonora (1522-1562) was the daughter of Don Pedro di Toledo, the Spanish viceroy in Naples. In 1539 she wed Cosimo de' Medici, the future Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had become ruler of Florence two years earlier following the assassination of his cousin Duke Alessandro de' Medici. The marriage was particularly advantageous to Cosimo, as Eleonora brought with her an enormous dowry to replenish the nearly empty Medici coffers as well as political connections to the Holy Roman Emperor. She also provided the Medici with eight sons, to ensure the family's dynastic succession, and three daughters, including Lucrezia, whose portrait is also in the Museum's collection. Her gaunt appearance here suggests she was already suffering from the wasting illness that would claim her life in 1562.

As is true of other Medici portraits, several variants exist of the present painting, none of which can be confidently attributed to Bronzino himself. A recent conservation treatment of the painting has revealed that the background was originally a deep red color.
ProvenanceLucien Bonaparte, Prince of Canino (younger brother of Napoleon), Rome(?) and/or private collection, Bologna (?), until 1839; George Buchanan, London; Robert S. Holford, London, by 1854, until 1892; Sir George L. Holford, Dorchester House, London, 1892 - 1927; [Christie's London, July 15, 1927, lot 24 (as "Angelo Bronzino"), to Herz]; [Jacques Seligman & Co., New York, by 1939, until at least 1947]; C. S. Wadsworth Trust; [Parke-Bernet, New York, December 11, 1948, lot 40 (as "Angelo Allori Bronzino")]; bought by George Khuner; Marianne Khuner, Beverly Hills; given to NCMA, 1964.Published ReferencesG. F. Waagen, Treasures of Art...Vol. 2 (1854), 195 (together with Portrait of Cosimo I as Bronzino). “Both belong, in truth of conception and equality of completion to the first works by this master.”

London, R.A., catalogue (1887), no. 137 (as Bronzino).

E. B. Chancellor, Private Places of London, Past and Present (London, 1908), 252 (as Bronzino).

Schulze, Die Werke Angelo Bronzinos (Strassbourg, 1911), xxi (as Bronzino).

The Holford Collection, Dorchester House (Oxford & London, 1927), I, no. 102, illus. pl. xcii (as Bronzino).

A. McComb, Agnolo Bronzino: His Life and Works (Cambridge, MA: 1928), 36.

Important Paintings and Drawings (auction catalogue) (New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., 1948), lot no. 40, illus.

A. Emiliani, Il Bronzino (Busto Arizio, 1960), mentioned 68.

Edi Baccheschi, L’opera completa del Bronzino (Milano: Rissoli Editore, 1973), cat. no. 161, illus. 108, detail no. 154.

R. Simon, “Bronzino’s Portraits of Cosimo I de Medici,” (unpublished dissertation, Columbia University, NY 1982), 321.

K. Langedijk, The Portraits of the Medici, Vol. 2 (Florence: 1983), no. 76, illus.

Rikke Foulke, “Eleanora di Toledo by Workshop of Bronzino at North Carolina Museum of Art,” Richerche di storia dell’arte 87 (2005), 41–49, illus.

R. Bianiucci et al, “Eleonora of Toledo (1522–1562): Evidence for tuberculosis and leishmaniasis co-infection in Renaissance Italy,” in International Journal of Paleopathology 2, no. 4 (December 2012), illus. (color) 232.
Exhibition HistoryExhibition catalogue, Art of the Medici (1939), illus. 113 (as Bronzino).

Exhibition catalogue, Loan Exhibition of Masterpieces of Painting, February 5-March 8, 1942, no. 112, (as Bronzino).

San Francisco, CA, Palace of the Legion of Honor, "Vanity Fair," 1942, cat. (as Bronzino).

Richmond, VA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, "Exhibition of Portraits of Six Centuries," 1947 (as Bronzino).
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