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Filippo di Piero Strozzi (1541-1582) was a member of the Florentine family of Strozzi, though his associations were mainly with France, hence his portrait by a French artist. Although Filippo was born in Florence to Piero Strozzi and Laudomia de' Medici, his father had been exiled from his native city, and had been received in France by Queen Catherine de' Medici, appointed as Marshal of France. His family reinvented itself as military servants of the Valois, and as a boy Filippo was page to the future King Francis II. His career was largely that of a significant and energetic commander of the royal armies during the Wars of Religion.
This portrait, with its extraordinary display of armour - the sense of its volume and encasement of its sitter - is an example of the artist's neat dexterity and painterly vision.
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