Agnolo di Cosimo di Marino

This mid-1500s Florentine painter filled canvases with sharp-eyed portraits of the city’s thinkers and nobles. One is the Portrait of Ugolino Martelli, a sharp-chinned banker-turned-scholar shown with a book in hand, bathed in the cool Florentine light of the time. Look for the way the ruffled collar frames the face, or how the hand rests on the tome like a promise of learning. Next, tap Ugolino’s portrait to see how the artist balanced detail with dignity.