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• Elizabeth Cropper

  Much has been written about the identity of the sitter in this portrait by Pontormo. In 1568 the most famous contemporary recorder of artists' lives, the painter Giorgio Vasari, noted that Pontormo painted a beautiful work, a portrait of Francesco Guardi depicted as a soldier during the 1528 siege of Florence. However, in 1612 the name of Cosimo de' Medici was attached to a description of the portrait.

  In this volume, the author argues that the subject of the painting―widely considered to be Pontormo's masterpiece―is Francesco Guardi. The book discusses not only the specific determination of the sitter, but the tools and methods used in general for establishing the people and places portrayed in works of art.

  Elizabeth Cropper is professor of the history of art at Johns Hopkins University. Among her publications are The Idea of Painting: Pietro Testa's Düsseldorf Notebook, Pietro Testa: 1612–1650 (a catalogue), and Nicolas Poussin: Friendship and the Love of Painting (with Charles Dempsey).
  
  "In taking on every significant issue attendant on our understanding of this painting, Cropper has produced an estimable book."
  —College Art Association Reviews

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