''The Golden Age'' is a c. 1576-1581 oil on panel painting of the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

Jacopo Zucchi Jacopo Zucchi (c. 1541- c. 1590) was a Florentine painter of the Mannerist style, active in Florence and Rome. His training began in the studio of Giorgio Vasari, and he participated in decoration of the ''Studiolo'' and the ''Salone dei Cinque ...

, a favoured artist of

Ferdinando I de' Medici Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 3 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I. Early life Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at t ...

at the end of the latter's cardinalate in Rome, now in the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

, in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. An early preparatory drawing for the work survives in the

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works o ...

. It and ''

The Silver Age ''The Silver Age'' is a c.1576-1581 oil on panel painting of the Silver Age by Jacopo Zucchi, a favoured artist of Ferdinando I de' Medici at the end of the latter's cardinalate in Rome, now in the Uffizi in Florence. It and '' The Golden Age' ...

'' were probably painted for Ferdinando, as they were recorded in his 'Guardaroba medicea' and then in 1635 at the Uffizi - at the latter date they were still together but misattributed to

Federico Zuccari Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541August 6, 1609), was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad. Biography Zuccaro was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino (Marche). His docum ...

. Their correct attribution was later restored. The two works' dimensions and status as panel not canvas paintings may mean they were originally intended as two elaborate covers for portraits. They have previously been linked with another Uffizi work on copper, previously entitled ''The Age of Iron'' but now known as ''The Rule of Jupiter'' or ''Hercules Musagetes on Olympus'' and thought to be a pair for a ''Death of Adonis'' on copper now in the Casa Vasari, Arezzo. Gloria Fossi, ''Uffizi'', Giunti, Firenze 2004. ISBN 88-09-03675-1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Age 1570s paintings 1580s paintings Paintings by Jacopo Zucchi Paintings depicting Greek myths Mannerist paintings Paintings in the collection of the Uffizi