Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A princess trapped in time. A boy frozen in memory. An imagined love story.
'Untitled (Medici Princess)' and 'Untitled (Medici series, Pinturicchio Boy)' are among the most recognisable and celebrated examples from Joseph Cornell’s revelatory 'Medici' series, fusing history, myth and invention to create artworks of lasting power.
At the centre of each piece is a portrait borrowed from Renaissance Old Masters: 'Portrait of Bia de' Medici' by Agnolo Bronzino and Pinturicchio’s 'Portrait of a Boy'. These images are nestled within wooden shadow boxes that combine the format of an altarpiece with what Cornell called ‘a penny arcade in a dream’.
Based on legend that Maria de’ Medici (originally thought to be the sitter in the Bronzino portrait) fell in love with a commoner at court, Cornell envisioned a love story between the figures in these two shadowboxes. Small compartments are lined with old maps and ephemera and filled with objects like marbles, balls and jacks that transport the viewer to a place of mystery and childlike wonder.
With the 'Medici' series, Cornell radically redefined the direction of post-war art, straddling Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism while anticipating the assemblages of Rauschenberg and the repetition of Warhol. In these works, made in what the artist called his basement 'laboratory', creative wanderings become a meditation on memory, love and the passage of time.
🔗 Discover Joseph Cornell's 'Medici' series in all its complexity: christies.com/en/stories/joseph-cornell-collecting-guide-5a6ccf018dfd46ce88f5b05b3b5a082a?cid=EM_SM_O_YT_Inc_CON___24265_2021CNY0525_Cornells___VID_LinkInBio
📅 The Collection of Agnes Gund | New York | 18 May
📅 20th Century Evening Sale | New York | 18 May
A princess trapped in time. A boy frozen in memory. An imagined love story.
'Untitled (Medici Princess)' and 'Untitled (Medici series, Pinturicchio Boy)' are among the most recognisable and celebrated examples from Joseph Cornell’s revelatory 'Medici' series, fusing history, myth and invention to create artworks of lasting power.
At the centre of each piece is a portrait borrowed from Renaissance Old Masters: 'Portrait of Bia de' Medici' by Agnolo Bronzino and Pinturicchio’s 'Portrait of a Boy'. These images are nestled within wooden shadow boxes that combine the format of an altarpiece with what Cornell called ‘a penny arcade in a dream’.
Based on legend that Maria de’ Medici (originally thought to be the sitter in the Bronzino portrait) fell in love with a commoner at court, Cornell envisioned a love story between the figures in these two shadowboxes. Small compartments are lined with old maps and ephemera and filled with objects like marbles, balls and jacks that transport the viewer to a place of mystery and childlike wonder.
With the 'Medici' series, Cornell radically redefined the direction of post-war art, straddling Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism while anticipating the assemblages of Rauschenberg and the repetition of Warhol. In these works, made in what the artist called his basement 'laboratory', creative wanderings become a meditation on memory, love and the passage of time.
🔗 Discover Joseph Cornell's 'Medici' series in all its complexity: christies.com/en/stories/joseph-cornell-collecting-guide-5a6ccf018dfd46ce88f5b05b3b5a082a?cid=EM_SM_O_YT_Inc_CON___24265_2021CNY0525_Cornells___VID_LinkInBio
📅 The Collection of Agnes Gund | New York | 18 May
📅 20th Century Evening Sale | New York | 18 May
