The bust of Cosimo I de’Medici was first attributed to Giovanni Battita Caccini by Adolf Venturi who drew attention to the similarity in the rendering of specific elements—the face, facial hair, collar and fur-lined coat—to some of his other works, including the busts of Baccio Valori, Charlemagne and the painter Andrea del Sarto, as well as the statue of Francesco I de’Medici, which Caccini sculpted for the Palazzo Vecchio in c. 1594. The attribution was subsequently upheld by other scholars. Thomas Martin supported the attribution to Caccini also claiming that it was more likely to have been made between 1590 and 1600. In the collections of the Ciechanowiecki Foundation in Warsaw, there is another bust by Caccini, very similar in style to the one under discussion, which may be a likeness of Cosimo I’s son, Ferdinand de’Medici. The bust was formerly in the collections of the Principe del Drago in Rome, and from c. 1975 was in a private collection in the UK. 1980 – gift of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Giovanni Battista Caccini (Rome 1556–1613 Florence?). Italian sculptor, architect and restorer of ancient art objects. Pupil of Giovanni Antonio Dosi; in 1574 they both went to Florence and Caccini gradually gained the position of greatest sculptor in the city. Member of the Accademia del Disegno. He was the author of religious sculptures (in the churches of S. Maria Maggiore and S. Maria degli Angeli in Florence, the cathedral in Orvieto, the church of S. Martino in Naples and others), as well as bas reliefs, including the doors of the cathedral in Pisa and the figures of the great altar in Santo Spirito, Florence. He worked for the de’Medici family. He made mythological sculptures and representations of the four seasons for the Boboli Gardens in collaboration with his workshop. Author of portrait busts. Cosimo I de’Medici (1519–74). Son of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere and Maria di Jacopo Salviati. In 1569 he received the title of Grand Duke from Emperor Charles V and thus started the ducal line. He married Eleonora di Toledo, daughter of the viceroy of Naples. He was famous as a patron of the arts. In 1560 he founded a gallery, later to become the Galeria degli Uffizi.