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

Exhibition Label: "Corpus," Apr-2012, Chassica Kirchhoff 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. This portrait is one of several paintings of the duchess, whose image was also disseminated throughout Europe in print. The crown that rests on the table to her left alludes to her powerful position, and also appears in earlier paintings of Christine de Loraine. Because the duchess had eight children between 1609 and 1617, some scholars posit that she is pregnant in this portrait. However, the elaborately padded and layered court costume of the time created a silhouette that emphasized a bulging abdomen, and the duchess’s shape does not necessarily indicate pregnancy. In fact, many of the most compelling portraits of Maria Maddalena were painted after her children were born, during the period immediately before she assumed control of her late husband’s realm. Archive Label 2003: Maria Maddalena married Cosimo II of the Medici, a wealthy and powerful family, and arrived in Florence in 1608. In this painting, one of many portraits of her, the grand duchess is shown pregnant, probably with her son Ferdinando II, her second of eight children, who would become heir to his father’s station. On the table rests the grand ducal crown, which is often included in her portraits.