Paintings in the Cappella di Eleonora in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence (1540-45)

In 1540, soon after marrying Eleonora of Toledo, Cosimo de' Medici moved from the Palazzo Medici into the Palazzo della Signoria, publicly proclaiming his dominance over all civic institutions. Cosimo remodeled the building to accommodate his expanding family and commissioned elaborate decorative programs of the histories of his ancestors, of his own military conquests, and of dynastic portraiture to fill its vast spaces. On the upper floor Cosimo constructed a small cubical chapel for Eleanor's private devotions, completely decorated by Bronzino with imagery that ostensibly referred to Christian redemption but which barely veiled his dynastic and political intentions.

The wall frescoes all depict scenes from the life of Moses: the left-wall frescoes include the Miracle of the Spring (Moses Striking the Rock) and the Gathering of Manna, the right wall is covered by the fresco Crossing of the Red Sea, an uncommon subject in Christian chapels. The altarpiece currently in the chapel, depicting the Lamentation, is a replica Bronzino made in 1553 of his 1545 original (which was sent to France as a diplomatic gift and is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Besançon). The frescoes of the vault represents Sts Michael, John the Evangelist, Jerome and Francis.

For the decoration of the chapel Bronzino applied an unusual technique: the underpainting was true fresco and the finished layer in tempera.