Pontormo: Portrait of a Halberdier (1520-30)

(Getty Center, Los Angeles, USA)

A painting by the Italian artist Jacopo Carucci (1494-1557), better known as 'Pontormo'.after his place of birth. A well dressed man is standing before a wall. In his right hand he is holding a halberd, the combination of a spear and an axe - a popular infantry weapon. The identity of the man is unclear but the 16th century Italian artist Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) claimed the painting was a portrait of a 'young nobleman Francesco Guardi as a soldier'. Another suggestion is Cosimo de' Medici (1389 – 1464), lord of Florence. Painting from around 1520-1530.