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Carmen Bambach: I’m Carmen Bambach, curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a co-curator of the exhibition "The Drawings of Bronzino,” the first exhibition devoted to this great sixteenth-century draftsman, painter, poet, teacher, philosopher that’s on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through April 18. And it presents nearly all the known drawings by this leading Italian Mannerist artist who worked primarily in Florence. Bronzino became famous as a court artist to Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici and his beautiful wife, Duchess Eleonora di Toledo. Drawing was for Bronzino a uniquely functional activity, and close-up examination of his studies on paper provides an intimate glimpse into his creative process. The exhibition contains sixty-one drawings from European and North American museums and private collections, many of which have never been on public view.

I'm here with Bruce Adolphe, composer of the new musical work Of Art and Onions: Homage to Bronzino, which will have its world premiere here at the Met in a related concert called “A Tribute to Bronzino” on Saturday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. Bruce, can you describe the structure of your composition?

Bruce Adolphe: Yes, well, the piece, first of all, is scored for madrigal choir, harpsichord, viola da gamba, and vibraphone. So the vibraphone sticks out a little bit as being the modern instrument.