The High Renaissance
 
&

Mannerism


   

 

Alessandro Allori
 

Alessandro Allori

(b Florence, 31 May 1535; d Florence, 22 Sept 1607).

After the death of his father in 1540, he was adopted by Bronzino, a friend of his father, and he trained in Bronzino’s workshop. From 1554 to 1560 Allori was in Rome, where he studied antique statuary and the works of Michelangelo and became known as a portrait painter. His first documented work on his return to Florence was an altarpiece, heavily influenced by Michelangelo, depicting the Last Judgement, painted in 1560 for the Montauti Chapel, SS Annunziata. Allori became involved in a number of projects relating to Florence’s recently formed (1563) Accademia del Disegno. These included preparation of the decorations for the funeral of Michelangelo in 1564 and for the marriage the following year of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici’s son, Francesco (later Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany) to Joanna of Austria.

St Peter Walking on the Water
1590s
Oil on copper, 47 x 40 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

 

Allegory of Human Life
1570-90
Oil on copper, 37 x 27 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence