This painting came into the museum in 1850, among the thirteen pictures bought from the collection of King William II of the Netherlands. In the Hermitage it was considered to be a portrait of an unknown man until it was determined that this is a likeness of Cosimo I Medici (1519-1574), the Duke of Florence and (from 1569) first Grand Duke of Tuscany. Symbolically the work contains all the ideas that would consistently be developed throughout the whole of Cosimo's reign. In his right hand the young man holds a gold medal bearing the image of a winged naked woman standing on two spheres with books lying open at her feet. The winged figure is associated with victory, virtue and good fortune. The two spheres are an attribute of cosmography (it is a known fact that contemporaries saw a direct connection between the word "cosmos" and the name "Cosimo"). At the same time the spheres recall the balls that featured in the Medici family arms. Two spheres may also have contained an allusion to two Cosimos (Cosimo the Elder ruled Florence in the previous century).
The unshakeable nature of power is affirmed by the depiction of a rock, while the fire burning in the depths may have symbolized a thirst for glory and action.