Portrait of Bernardetto de' Medici

Giorgio Vasari's Portrait of Bernardetto de' Medici, painted in 1549 in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, is a formal oil portrait of a member of the extended Medici family network. Bernardetto de' Medici held an important position within the broader Medici political structure, and his portrait served both the personal purpose of recording his likeness and the political purpose of placing him within the visual record of Medici family history that Vasari was constructing under Cosimo I's direction. The 1549 date places this among Vasari's mature portraits, after his return to Florence in 1554 following extensive periods in Venice and Rome had given him exposure to a wide range of portrait traditions. His approach to male portraiture combined Florentine graphic clarity with the Venetian richness of costume and colour that he had absorbed during his northern Italian travels.

The paint medium on canvas allows for the smooth, authoritative flesh modelling and rich costume description that formal male portraiture required. Vasari's characteristic approach gives the face careful tonal modelling with a cool, almost silvery quality to the highlights, while the black costume is differentiated in texture between the matte fabric and the glinting metal of any chains or insignia.