Marie (fille de Cosme Ier) de Médicis

Bronzino was court painter to Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence, and this is Cosimo's eldest daughter, Maria, painted in 1551 when she was about 11. Everything about it is dynastic: the black velvet stiff with gold thread, the double rope of pearls, the little gold crown in her hair, all signalling the wealth and reach of a family that ran the city. Portraits like this were working documents, sent between courts to advertise a child for a future marriage alliance. Maria's never came. She died of malaria in 1557, at 17, before any match was made. Bronzino painted much of her family too, and their cool, polished faces set the tone for court portraiture across Europe.