Art Of The Day Weekly
#395 - from 2 July 2015 to 8 July 2015
Sweet Dolci
FLORENCE - Once we have reviewed Masaccio, Leonardo, Michael-Angelo, Bronzino and Pontormo, what do we know about Florentine painting? Nearly nothing: the creators of the XVII and XVIII centuries are particularly ill-known. It is clearly the case of Carlo Dolci (1616-1687), event hough his works were scattered all over Europe – there is a drawing in the Louvre, paintings in Brest and Marseille, Madrid, Stockholm and Dresden. The Medici adored the artist, the English greatly appreciated his still lives, his drawings of natural history, his repentant Magdalenes and his portraits of the aristocracy. Most of the British ambassadors posted in Florence had him brush up their portrait. But he was also capable of referring to the great names of the past, such as Dante or Fra Angelico and left touching representations of his dear ones, one of his daughter in particular, who was also to become a painter.
• Carlo Dolci at the Galleria Palatina, from 30 June to 15 November 2015.