The Power of Association: A Study in the Legitimization of Bianca Cappello through Medici Matriarchal Portraiture

Summary

WHEN Bianca Cappello (1548–87) officially became Grand Duchess of Tuscany (fig. 1) and consort to Francesco I de' Medici (1541–87) in 1579, she had already been the Grand Duke's wife for a year and his mistress for over a decade, bearing him a son, Antonio, in 1576. As mistress, Bianca enjoyed the wealth, protection, and social status akin to a member of the grand ducal household, a position that caused scandal at the Florentine court and domestic and political problems for the Medici family. Uninterested in or unwilling to keep the relationship a secret, Francesco acknowledged his lover publicly through his favors and frequent presence at her side, enabling all of the courts of Europe and Italy to learn of their illicit affair.

As Bianca assumed the grand ducal crown, the appropriateness and legitimacy of her new position was buttressed by a series of politically and financially motivated quid pro quos negotiated between Francesco and Europe's most powerful figures, with Francesco trading favors for the public endorsement of Bianca and their union. Like his father before him, Francesco also turned almost immediately to the art of portraiture to advance Medici position and legitimacy, while simultaneously making Bianca and Antonio's political claims of authenticity and respectability tangible in paint. The result was a series of potent, propagandistic portraits documented in Alessandro Allori's I Ricordi beginning in March 1581, only eighteen months after Cappello's ascension. These painted portraits, which are now lost or destroyed, contained Bianca, Antonio, and the heir apparent, Don Filippo.