Italian Baroque Era Painter, 1577-1621
Allori was born at Florence and received his first lessons in painting from his father, Alessandro Allori, but becoming dissatisfied with the hard anatomical drawing and cold coloring of the latter, he entered the studio of Gregorio Pagani (1558-1605) who was one of the leaders of the late Florentine school, which sought to unite the rich coloring of the Venetians with the Florentine attention to drawing. Allori also appears to have worked under Cigoli.
His pictures are distinguished by their close adherence to nature and the delicacy and technical perfection of their execution. His technical skill is shown by the fact that several copies he made of Correggio's works were thought to be duplicates by Correggio himself. His extreme fastidiousness limited the number of his works. Several specimens are to be seen at Florence and elsewhere.
The finest of his works is his Judith with the Head of Holofernes. It exists in two copies in the Pitti Palace in Florence and in the Queen's Gallery in London. The model for the Judith was his mistress, the beautiful Mazzafirra, who is also represented in his Magdalene; and the head of Holofernes is generally supposed to represent himself. Related Paintings of ALLORI Cristofano :. | The Scourge of the Serpents | The Supper at Emmaus | The Meadow of San Isidro | Olevano Romano (mk11) | Vision of St Augustin (detail) fdg | Related Artists:
George Shuklinpainted Pyotr Drozhdin in 1745
MOLENAER, Jan MienseDutch painter (b. ca. 1610, Haarlem, d. 1668, Haarlem).
Dutch painter and draughtsman. The surprisingly large oeuvre of this remarkably versatile genre painter displays an inventive symbolism, wit and humour, which identify him as the true forerunner of Jan Steen.
Henry Courtnay Selous (1803-1890), Painter and lithographer
