Portret van Filippo Strozzi 1755 - 1805

This portrait of Filippo Strozzi was made in the late 18th century by Gaetano Vascellini, as an engraving. It depicts a man of substance, identifiable by his fur-lined coat and hat, in what we understand to be Renaissance dress. The portrait revives the image of a Florentine citizen from centuries earlier, when Florence was an independent republic. Its visual codes recall the traditions of Renaissance portraiture, and signal civic pride. The inscriptions tell us that Filippo Strozzi was a senator and a man of letters. But what is the public role of this image? Is it a celebration of the cultural achievements of the Renaissance? Or does it speak to the political and social concerns of Vascellini's time? Historians would need to research Florentine history, Renaissance costume, and the culture of portraiture to understand the social conditions that shaped this print. The meaning of this image is contingent on its historical and institutional context.