Standing before a fortress wall, this well-dressed foot soldier holds a combination spear and battle-axe called a halberd. His direct stare and swaggering pose are strikingly poignant, given the smooth unlined face and slim body that betray him as no more than a teenager. As a portraitist, Jacopo Pontormo was renowned for his subtle, complex psychological studies; here he conveyed the naive arrogance and vulnerability of youth. Court painter to Duke Cosimo de' Medici (1519 – 1574) in Florence, Pontormo pioneered a new, sophisticated type of portraiture which championed elegance and aristocratic reserve.
The sitter's identity has been much discussed. The painter and author of the famous Lives, Giorgio Vasari (1511 – 1574), noted that during the siege of Florence in about 1529, Pontormo painted a "most beautiful work, "a portrait of young nobleman Francesco Guardi as a soldier.” Sure enough, a birth record survives for a male child, Francesco, who was born into the Guardi clan in 1514. This young man would have been around fourteen or fifteen years old at the time of the siege, about the age of Pontormo's teenage sitter. Based on the evidence of a Florentine inventory of the Riccardi family in 1612, it has also been suggested by some that the portrait represents Cosimo de' Medici himself.
We make each of our prints one at a time—just for you.
Our Giclée Prints are printed here in Switzerland, one at a time, on heavy matte German art paper using the finest 12-color Canon archival inks. Some images are panoramic or tall and narrow—please select the 18" x 36" format for these.
Our Premium Museum Frame in Black is custom-made in Lugano, Switzerland, using natural wood moulding in a matte black satin finish. Each includes thick, hand-cut white mat boards and Plexiglass glazing. We tailor and print each image to fit its specific ratio and dimensions within our custom-made frames. The hand-cut mats are extra thick. Each bespoke museum frame ships in a custom box. Rush shipping is available for projects with tight deadlines—this is our specialty, and you will not be disappointed.
Our Antiqued Museum Frame in Gold is a high-quality frame made of solid wood, featuring traditional 19th-century cast plaster moulded details and closed corners. These frames are works of art in themselves, each with a unique patina. The hand-rubbed corners and gold finish evoke the elegance of times past. Your selected image is printed on German art paper with archival inks and mounted to quality art board within the frame. Plexiglass is added for print protection and the back is covered with Kraft paper and a hanger is supplied ready to hang..
Our Stretched Canvas prints are hand-stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed with archival inks on a cotton-poly matte finish canvas. These are best-in-industry Swiss-quality canvases, hand-coated for UV protection.
Wall Murals are printed on a matte-finish, self-adhesive poly/fabric material that mounts easily and is ideal for smooth wall surfaces.
Our Note Cards are amazing—each is printed individually on 100% cotton art paper, comes with a kraft envelope, and is individually sleeved. (Image is scaled to fit the format.)
All of our images are digitized from the original negative or print and printed by our master printer to museum standards.
Questions? Please email service@archivea.com or call/text +41 79 265 8891.
Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.
