Portrait of a Halberdier

The artwork

While the armies of the emperor and the pope besieged Florence, Pontormo painted this young man with a halberd, one of the defenders of the Republic. It comes printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• A young soldier standing, halberd in hand, with the bastion behind him.
• A direct gaze that can hold the wall of a living room or a study on its own.
• A special gift for anyone who loves Florence and the great portraits of the sixteenth century.

Florence, 1529. The city has driven out the Medici and is holding out against a siege that will last until August 1530. Pontormo, who according to Vasari was so afraid of death that he would not even hear it mentioned, stays inside the walls and paints a young man in arms. Not a commander: a boy standing guard.

We do not know for certain who he is. The Getty, which holds the painting in Los Angeles, titles it Portrait of a Halberdier (Francesco Guardi?), and the question mark is essential. In 1989 the museum bought it at auction for 35.2 million dollars, at the time the highest price ever paid for an Old Master painting. In 2026 it returned to Italy for the major exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome.

In a living room, a study or a grand entrance hall: it is the gift for anyone who loves the history of Florence and Renaissance portraits. A gaze like this does not go unnoticed.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 40 x 60 cm (15.7 x 23.6 in)
Framed size: 42 x 62 cm (16.5 x 24.4 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with a gold fillet, handmade, with glass