Retrato de Cosme I de Médici

By 1543 Cosimo de' Medici had taken firm hold of Florence, and a young ruler who had seized power needed a face the whole of Italy could recognise. So he had his court painter Bronzino make one. Cosimo stands in gleaming parade armour, a hand resting on his helmet, the steel engraved and gilded and lined with deep burgundy. It is less a likeness than an official image, and it worked exactly as intended. Bronzino and his workshop turned out around 25 versions of it, sent out to allies and courts as a kind of political calling card, and this one in the Uffizi is generally taken to be the prototype the copies came from. Look at how little the man himself gives away. The armour does the talking, and the face above it stays cool and closed, which was the point.