Allegorical Portrait of a Young Man in the Guise of Mercury Slaying Argus

This portrait depicts a young man disguised as the mischievous Mercury after he has slain the hundred-eyed watchman Argus. Balancing himself on a puff of clouds as he holds a flute and caduceus (a staff entwined with snakes), he stands before a hillside that opens onto what Florentines would have recognized as a Flemish-style landscape. The Medici often identified themselves with classical gods, sometimes even assuming their guises in allegorical portraits. Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, was an enthusiast of alchemy and often had himself portrayed with an image of Mercury, who was associated with the metal of the same name. The facial features of this youth, however, more closely resemble those found in portraits of Antonio de’ Medici, son of Francesco’s second wife, Bianca Cappello.