ROSSI, Giovanni Antonio de'
(b. 1517, Milano, d. after 1575)

Cosimo I de' Medici and his Family

1558-62
Variegated white and black onyx, 19 x 17 cm
Museo degli Argenti, Palazzo Pitti, Florence

The cameo shows Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), then Duke of Florence, his wife, Eleonor of Toledo (1519-1562), and their sons, Francesco (1541-1587), Ferdinando (1549-1609), Giovanni (1543-1562), Garzia (1547-1562) and the young Pietro (1554-1604), not yet at the height of his mother's waist, playing with the golden fleece. The family group is surmounted by an allegorical Fame, winged and blowing his trumpet.