Balducci, Giovanni
Florence, H. 1560 - NaplesHe was taught by Giovanni Battista Naldini (c. 1537-1591) the pupil and "artistic heir" of Pontormo (1494-1557). In his turn, Balducci became the spiritual heir to Naldini. Balducci followed his master's style closely and collaborated with him on a number of commissions, for example The Presentation of the Virgin painted in 1590 for Volterra Cathedral. He was active in a number of important commissions in Florence during the 1580s and painted some of the lunettes in the Chiostro Grande of S. Maria Novella. Among other notable works in the city are his decorations for the Oratorio dei Pretoni (1588-1590), commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro dei Medici. In 1594, together with Agostino Ciampelli (1565-1630), he transferred to Rome at the Cardinal's invitation. Shortly thereafter he travelled to Naples in the retinue of Cardinal Gesualdo, where he seems to have settled for the next thirty years, achieving considerable success with his Tuscan idiom of painting (Turner, N.: From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Art Services International-Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 178).