Portrait of Giovanni de' Medici as a child

The Portrait of Giovanni de 'Medici as a Child (c. 1545) is an oil on board by the Florentine artist Agnolo Bronzino.

This portrait uses oil paint on the panel and portrays Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici. It was painted for his father, Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Bronzino was the official painter of the Medici Court from 1532 and made many portraits of Duke Cosimo I and his family. Cosimo had his portrait done by Bronzino around 1545, the Portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici. Giovanni and his mother, Eleonora of Toledo, were the subject of another portrait by Bronzino from around 1545 or 1546, the Portrait of Eleonora of Toledo and her Son.

An extended title for this portrait is Portrait of Giovanni de' Medici as a Boy with a Goldfinch. It was painted sometime between 1544 and 1545, depending on the age of the child. Giovanni was born in September 1543 and this portrait depicts him at the age of eighteen months. She wears a pink doublet, which is painted with great detail. He has a goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) in his hand, which is a Christian symbol, because the goldfinch eats thistle seeds and is therefore associated with the Crown of Thorns and the Passion of Christ. It appears in religious paintings to represent knowledge of the future crucifixion. Around her neck, she wears a gold chain with a coral and other charms. It was believed that coral could protect children from harm.

Unlike Bronzino's other portraits which depict people looking at the world with aloof, aristocratic disdain, Giovanni's portrait is lively and engaging. The portraits of Cosimo's other children are depicted with the same emotionless faces as the adults. They do not show the personality of children and are very serious. Most of the portraits have the nanny with her body almost facing forward, with a slight three-quarter turn of her head to the left. The babysitter looks at the viewer and the dark backgrounds are not specific. Giovanni's portrait is quite different. It represents a child of almost 2 years old in a cheerful and realistic way, with an accurate description of the morphology of a small child. Unlike the portraits of the Duke's other children, it is cropped above the knee and the body is presented almost frontally with a slight turn to our left. The boy is sitting on a dark brown bench, with a dark green background that contrasts well with his pink clothes that are the same color as his coral charm. It is a natural representation of early childhood with its chubby face and fingers. Two of her baby teeth are peeking out, and she has wisps of fine hair that add to her delightful portrayal. His active expression is that of a small child as he smiles and looks at the viewer. Giovanni was Cosimo's fourth and youngest son, and was portrayed differently than his brothers because his father had different goals for his life. Years later, after Giovanni became a cardinal at the age of seventeen, he had Bronzino paint an allegorical portrait titled Portrait of Giovanni de' Medici as Saint John the Baptist, which was painted between 1560 and 1562.

It was said that a month after his birth, he was "beautiful and fat" (bello e grasso) and "like an angel from paradise." In 1547, he was described as "the handsomest and happiest boy that ever was...", which certainly fits the depiction of his character in this charming portrait.