BALDUCCI, Giovanni

Italian painter. He was trained by Giovan Battista Naldini, who was influenced by Vasari and late Florentine Mannerism. Between 1575 and 1579 Balducci collaborated with Federico Zuccaro on Vasari’s frescoes of the Last Judgement in the dome of Florence Cathedral. He enrolled in the Accademia del Disegno in 1578. In 1577 and 1580 he worked with Naldini on the decoration of the Altoviti Chapel in Trinità dei Monti, Rome. On his return to Florence, he assisted Alessandro Allori in the decoration of the ceilings in the corridor of the Uffizi gallery. His work on the decoration of Florence Cathedral for the wedding of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1589, includes the Last Supper. The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine (San Gimignano, Sant’Agostino) dates from the same year.

From 1588 to 1590, for Cardinal Alessandro de’ Medici, he painted one of his finest works, a cycle of scenes from the Life of Christ (Florence, Oratory of the Pretoni). While there are echoes of 15th-century classicism in the treatment of faces and in certain motifs, the painting has the simple devotional quality typical of Florentine art of this period, which was dominated by the influence of Santi di Tito. In 1590-91, again with Naldini, Balducci worked on the decoration of Volterra Cathedral, for example the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes in the Serguidi Chapel. The Nativity (Volterra, San Francesco) is dated 1592.

The artist was brought to Rome by Cardinal Alessandro in 1594, where he painted a cycle of frescoes for the church of San Giovanni Decollato. That same year, the artist was commissioned by the cardinal, alongside Agostino Ciampelli and Girolamo Massei, to create a decorative cycle for the church of Santa Prassede with scenes from the Passion. Balducci worked in Rome until Alessandro de’ Medici’s departure in 1596 to become legate to France where his cousin, Maria de’ Medici, was queen. The artist then moved to Naples where he would remain until his death.