ROOM IX

degno discepolo di tanto maestro
Giorgio Vasari, 1568

ALESSANDRO ALLORI: “A SECOND BRONZINO”

Bronzino died in the Allori family home on 23 November 1572 and Alessandro delivered his funeral oration at the Accademia del Disegno. His favourite pupil, Allori gathered up the torch of Bronzino’s artistic legacy and embraced his propensity for austere elegance, but times had changed and he added a strong sentimental note supported by a naturalistic inclination that became increasingly dominant as the years went by. Allori went on painting until 1607, his career paralleling that of Caravaggio. This section uses representative examples of his work to illustrate his artistic development, from a panel in which Bronzino was assisted by his pupil, to a youthful Crucifixion by Allori’s own hand which also bears vibrant witness to his debt to Michelangelo. Early on in his career, Allori revealed a mastery of portraiture inherited from Bronzino in his Portrait of Ortensia da Montauto, painted in Rome in 1559. Finally, the Penitent Magdalen from the Stibbert Museum, already very much a work of the 17th century, reveals Alessandro’s modern naturalistic interests alongside a religious sensitivity imbued with the spirit of the Counter-Reformation.

Non muor chi vive come il Bronzin visse,
L’alm’è in Ciel, qui son l’ossa, è ‘l nome in terra
Illustre, ov’ei cantò, dipinse, e scrisse

Epitaffio per il Bronzino di Alessandro Allori, 1572

Bronzino - ROOM IX