Jacopo Ligozzi al servizio dei Medici. Le trasformazioni del ruolo di pittore di corte

Compared to the reigns of Cosimo I and Francesco I, when the painters on the court payroll were the shapers and protagonists of Medici art policies, the time of Ferdinando I (1588-1609) and Cosimo II (1609-1621) is characterized by the absence of a personality of reference in this field. With the beginning of the seventeenth century, the importance of the “court painter” for the Medici appears increasingly marginal compared to the architect, sculptor, or the specialized artisans working in the “Galleria dei Lavori” (now the Opificio delle Pietre Dure); this would be the case even more after the death of Cosimo II in 1621. In this framework Jacopo Ligozzi, at court from 1577 to 1627, represents a prime example of this change of status. This article retraces his career for the Medici on the basis of new observations and documentary evidence.