\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Eleonora of Toledo, the Spanish wife of Cosimo I, is portrayed sitting down, with her right arm resting on her sonÆs back to
underline her role as mother, to which the pomegranate woven into her clothing also alludes.\par
Bronzino has highly idealized the figure of the duchess, eliminating all ordinary and transitory aspects along with every imperfection to give her the dign
ity that her rank commands.\par
The polished forms, alabaster-colored flesh and impassive expressions make Eleonora and her son look as if they are frozen into the unnatural poses of a formal portrait.\par
Even the dark landscape behind them seems almo
st to vanish, turning into a flat backdrop like a slab of marble that frames the womanÆs face.\par
The sole elements of reality in the painting seem to be provided by the painstaking depiction of inanimate objects, such as the designs on the precious fa
brics, the lace, the necklaces and the gold hairnet studded with pearls.\par
When EleonoraÆs body was exhumed in the middle of the last century, she turned out to be have been buried in the very same dress. As a consequence, it has been suggested that t
