Description
Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici is a painting by Sandro Botticelli from around 1478, probably made shortly before conspirators of the Pazzi family murdered the younger brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent in Florence Cathedral. The young man with dark curls is turned almost into profile towards the right, his eyes lowered, in a red garment with a white collar, against an even blue-green ground. The original, tempera on poplar panel measuring 57.1 x 38.4 cm, hangs in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 portrait-format sizes from 30 x 45 to 127 x 185 cm or made to measure, and we send you a photograph of your finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici |
| Other titles: | Ritratto di Giuliano de’ Medici (Italian title) · Porträt des Giuliano de’ Medici (German title) |
| Painter: | Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510) |
| Year painted: | c. 1478 |
| Original size: | 57.1 cm x 38.4 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Tempera on poplar panel |
| Painting style: | Early Renaissance |
| Located at: | Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany, inv. 106B |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici – Sandro Botticelli
What does the Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici show?
The painting shows a young man from the chest up. His body is turned three-quarters and his head so far to the right that we see the face almost side on. Behind him there is no landscape and no room, only an even blue-green surface in which the brushstrokes can still be made out.
Thick dark hair falls in wavy curls over his ear down to the nape of his neck. The forehead is high and smooth, the nose long, straight and pointed, the upper lip thin and the lower one fuller, the chin only lightly marked. His eyes are almost closed and his gaze drifts downwards.
He wears a loose red garment that falls in vertical folds to the lower edge. At the neck a narrow white collar shows above a darker olive one, and at the left edge there is an olive-green sleeve with a grey border. The Italian Wikipedia describes the red garment as a fur-trimmed cloak.
Who was Giuliano de’ Medici?
Giuliano de’ Medici was born in 1453, the younger brother of Lorenzo de’ Medici, known as Lorenzo the Magnificent.
The Pazzi, bankers and rivals of the Medici, plotted in 1478 to end Medici rule in Florence; according to the Italian and French articles they had the backing of Pope Sixtus IV and other Italian princes. The attack took place in Florence Cathedral. Giuliano was killed at the age of 25, Lorenzo escaped, and the conspiracy failed.
Botticelli was then one of the painters working for the Medici and their circle. According to the Italian article, straight after the plot he was called on to paint the conspirators who had been condemned in their absence, shown as hanged men, on the walls of the Palazzo Vecchio.
The French article links the lowered eyelids to the possibility that later versions drew on his death mask. The English article, on the other hand, dates the Berlin panel to shortly before the murder.
Why is this portrait so well known?
Besides the Berlin panel, versions are known in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The English article believes the Berlin picture is the earliest, yet specialists still disagree about which came first and which are copies.
The face with its lowered gaze is no idealised saint and no figure from myth, but a real man from Botticelli’s own world. The Italian article reads in it a proud awareness of his rank.
If you would like to read more, there is a short article on the English Wikipedia, written in English.
Where can the original be seen today?
The original belongs to the Berlin State Museums and hangs in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin under inventory number 106B. The poplar panel is small, 57.1 cm high and 38.4 cm wide.
Sandro Botticelli was born around 1445 as Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi in Borgo Ognissanti in Florence, spent his whole life in that neighbourhood and is buried in the nearby church of Ognissanti. He died on 17 May 1510.
The Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici or another Botticelli?
This canvas painting is for anyone who prefers a single face to a crowded scene. The upright format, the calm colours and the almost empty background sit well in a study or a hallway.
If you like Botticelli’s portraits of men, look also at the Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder, a young man with a gold medal. A portrait of a woman by the same master is the Idealized Portrait of a Lady (Simonetta Vespucci). A tale from Boccaccio’s Decameron unfolds in The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti, Part One, and a scene in which tradition recognises members of the Medici family is the Adoration of the Magi.
More famous Botticelli paintings that we paint to order are gathered on our Sandro Botticelli page.
How do we hand-paint the Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici?
The Berlin original is not an oil painting: Botticelli painted it in tempera on a poplar panel of 57.1 x 38.4 cm. Ours is an oil painting reproduction on canvas, built up layer by layer, so it can be sent rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed.
The painter first draws the outline of head, neck and shoulders and lays in the blue-green ground. Then he builds up the face, from the light planes of forehead and cheeks to the shadows under the chin, and works up the dark curls in several layers.
The red garment grows out of deeper and lighter bands of red until the vertical folds appear. Last come the thin white of the collar, the grey border, the olive sleeve and the precise line of eyelids and lips.
Which size works on which wall?
In short: the two smallest sizes for a desk or a narrow wall, the middle ones for a study or hallway, the largest as the focal point of a room.
We paint the Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici in 8 portrait-format sizes (width x height): 30 x 45, 35 x 50, 48 x 70, 54 x 81, 69 x 100, 88 x 131, 100 x 145 and 127 x 185 cm. The Berlin panel measures 38.4 x 57.1 cm (width x height). So 30 x 45 and 35 x 50 cm are smaller than it, every size from 48 x 70 cm up is larger, the largest more than three times.
At 30 x 45 and 35 x 50 cm it suits a shelf, a desk or a bedside wall. From 48 x 70 to 69 x 100 cm the portrait looks good above a chest of drawers, in a study or in a hallway. As a painting for the living room or above a fireplace it comes into its own from 88 x 131 cm up, when the face can be seen from the doorway.
Can I order a different size, and which frame suits it?
Yes. If you need a different ratio, we keep the head and shoulders whole and add or take away a little of the blue-green ground or the red garment at the edge. The composition stays complete; only the proportions change to fit your wall. For a quote, simply send us your custom size.
Giuliano leaves us rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames the portrait. You pick the moulding in our 3D app; a view of it on your own wall is a separate service.
When will your Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici arrive?
Once you confirm the order, the painting is ready for dispatch in 15 to 45 working days. We send you a photograph of your finished painting before dispatch; any changes are made before packing.
Within Slovenia and to other EU countries it travels without customs, and our returns policy applies to every order.
The portrait is a considered gift for anyone who loves history or Florence. If you are unsure which size will fit, give a gift voucher, and the recipient chooses the painting and the size.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Botticelli’s original on display?
In the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, under inventory number 106B.
Who is the young man in the painting?
Giuliano de’ Medici (1453–1478), younger brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, killed in the Pazzi conspiracy.
Is this a printed picture?
No. It is a hand-painted copy that our painter brushes onto the canvas.
How big is the Berlin panel?
57.1 x 38.4 cm (height x width); even our 48 x 70 cm size is larger.
Can you paint the portrait in a size that is not on the list?
Yes. Send us the width and height, and we reply with a price and a completion time.
How long is the wait, and how does the painting travel?
15 to 45 working days to dispatch; it travels rolled, stretched or framed.
Does the portrait suit a bedroom, a study or a gift?
Yes. Its calm face and muted colours suit both rooms, and it makes a fine gift.
Why does Giuliano look down?
Readings differ: some see a remembrance of the dead man in it, but the English article dates the panel before the murder.
- Subject: the young Giuliano de’ Medici almost in profile, eyes lowered, with dark curls and a red garment against a blue-green ground.
- Original: tempera on poplar panel, c. 1478, 57.1 x 38.4 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
- Ours: a Sandro Botticelli reproduction hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes from 30 x 45 to 127 x 185 cm, or a custom size.
- Worth knowing: Giuliano died in 1478 at 25; Botticelli painted him in several versions.
