Baldovinetti, Alesso

(1425-1499)

   The pupil of Domenico Veneziano, Baldovinetti was born to an aristocratic Florentine family. He is credited with translating the Sweet Style Desiderio da Settignano introduced in sculpture to painting. His Annunciation (1447) and Virgin and Child with Saints (c. 1454) at the Uffizi, Florence, and his smiling Virgin and Child in the Louvre, Paris (c. 1460), exemplify his adoption of this approach. The figures in these paintings are delicate and elegantly posed and they tenderly glance at each other, common elements of Desiderio's mode. Baldovinetti was also an accomplished portraitist. His Portrait of a Young Woman (c. 1465) at the London National Gallery shows the unidentified sitter in profile, wearing an elaborate costume and jewelry, the customary format of mid-15th-century Italy for female portraiture. In 1462, Baldovinetti received the commission to fresco scenes in the cloister of the Church of Santisima Annunziata in Florence. These, unfortunately, are severely damaged. As Giorgio Vasari informs, Baldovinetti finished off the frescoes in a dry technique to protect them from humidity, which caused the surfaces to flake off. Although the outcome turned out to be a disaster in terms of conservation, his method testifies to his desire to discover more effective modes of artistic production.