Baldinucci, Filippo

(1625-1697)

   Though an accomplished draughtsman, Baldinucci is best known for his biography of the artists, the Notizie de'professori deldisegno da Cimabuein qua. He is also important to art historians for his biography of Gian Lorenzo Bernini commissioned by Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated the throne in 1654 to move permanently to Rome and to whose intellectual circle Baldinucci belonged. Baldinucci was born to a prominent Florentine family. In 1664, he was employed by Leopoldo de' Medici, first as his bookkeeper and later as art consultant. In this capacity, he was charged with the cataloguing of the Medici drawing collection and the purchase of new items for its enrichment. He also enlarged the Medici collection of paintings, by including, among other items, a series of artists' self-portraits. His travels throughout Italy to search for works, his endless evaluation of these items, and his contact with artists are what led him to write the Notizie, first published in 1681 in six volumes. In composing his biographies, he examined a number of documents, including account books, inventories, diaries, and letters, at the time considered a novel method of scholarship.