Brief Biography-Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano was from a poor district of Florence called Monticelli outside the city; there are few details of his early life there. In 1514, he was apprenticed to Raffaellino del Garbo for a year and then to Jacopo da Pontormo; his original name was Jacopo Carucci. Pontormo was an outstanding artist admired by none other than Michelangelo. Bronzino was his preferred pupil, and he incorporated him into his painting Joseph in Egypt. The two worked together on church frescoes later in life. Bronzino adopted a great deal of Pontormo’s style of painting.
In 1532, he painted a portrait of Guidobaldo della Rovere in Pesaro, his first remarkable portrait, which helped him gain a reputation. Next, Pontormo had him assist with frescoes for the Medici family, culminating in portrait commissions.
By 1539 he was a court painter for Duke Cosimo de Medici and designed tapestries in Cosimo’s tapestry works. His tapestry work was influenced by Michelangelo when he visited Rome. Bronzino adopted a son Alessandro Allori who became his pupil and was a successful artist. The later part of Bronzino’s life, when not painting, was taken up with the Accademia del Disegno, of which he was the Director. He died in the house of Alessandro Allori in 1572.