Maria Maddalena, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Studio of Domenico and Valore Casini

This painting depicts Maria Maddalena, who was both the Grand Duchess of Tuscany and the Arch Duchess of Austria. It is a cultivated embodiment of her many roles. The duchess, a scion of the powerful Habsburg family whose members included the Holy Roman Emperor, married Cosimo II de’Medici in 1608, forging a formidable alliance between the Dukes of Tuscany and the Habsburgs. After the duke’s untimely death, Maria Maddalena ruled alongside her mother-in-law, Christine de Loraine, as co-reagent for seven years until her eldest son reached adulthood. This was the only time during Medici sovereignty that Tuscany would be ruled by women.