The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Portrait of Baccio Bandinelli with Lion

Portrait of Baccio Bandinelli with Lion

1548
(French, active 1543–48)
(Italian, 1493–1560)
Sheet: 41.7 x 31.1 cm (16 7/16 x 12 1/4 in.); Platemark: 41.5 x 30.9 cm (16 5/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
Catalogue raisonné: LeBlanc 1 (as Salamanca, III.414)
Location: not on view

Description

Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli was a self-proclaimed rival of Michelangelo. This print, made from Bandinelli’s design, is a masterpiece of self-promotion that also encapsulates the Renaissance artist’s inspiration from antiquity and rising social status. Bandinelli portrayed himself sitting like a king surrounded by both ancient sculpture and his own works. The lion that bites into a block of marble symbolizes Bandinelli’s formidable power over the stone and perhaps the triumph of his skills over all others (including Michelangelo). His fur-lined cloak is that of a gentleman, and the cross on his chest indicates his knighthood in the Order of Saint James, a Catholic chivalric brotherhood.
  • Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020).
    Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-December 31, 2017).
    Drawn to the Body: The Human Figure and the Graphic Arts, 1500-1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 14-May 23, 1999).
    Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 3-October 26, 1997).
    Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Baccio Bandinelli with Lion|url=false|author=Nicolo della Casa, Baccio Bandinelli|year=1548|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.308