The sitter wears the cross of the military order of S. Stefano, founded in Pisa in 1561 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici. The letters and inkstand on the table, and the books and statue above, allude to his status and learned interests.
Independent life-size and full-length portraits are very rare in Tuscan 16th-century art. The painting has been attributed to Alessandro Allori, successor to Bronzino as painter to the Medici Court, but it is closer in style to the work of Maso da San Friano (Tommaso Manzuoli, 1531 - 1571).
