Portrait of Nano Morgante 1552

Agnolo Bronzino painted this portrait of Nano Morgante in Florence, using oil on panel. This was the standard medium for elite portraiture in the Renaissance. But the image is far from typical. Bronzino’s technique here, with its smoothly enameled surfaces and painstaking detail, gives the painting a striking presence. Yet its meaning resides less in the handling of the paint than in the subject matter. Morgante was a dwarf in the service of the Medici court, and is here depicted nude – a classical trope, yet undeniably strange in this context. He is holding a small owl, another traditional symbol, but one that feels here like a cruel juxtaposition. And then there are the butterflies, alighting suggestively on his body. Bronzino made a career of producing images for the ruling class. Yet this painting subtly undermines any straightforward reading of power. We are left to wonder: who exactly is in control, and to what end is Morgante being presented to us?