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Alessandro Allori

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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ALESSANDRO ALLORI (1535-1607), Italian painter of the Florentine school, was brought up and trained in art by his uncle, Angelo Bronzino whose name he sometimes assumed in his pictures. Visiting Rome in his nineteenth year, he carefully studied the works of Michelangelo; but the influence of that great master can only be traced in the anatomical correctness of his drawing of nude figures. He was successful as a portrait painter. His son Cristofano Allori (1577-1621), born at Florence, received his first lessons in painting from his father, but becoming dissatisfied with the hard anatomical drawing and cold colouring of the latter, he entered the studio of Gregorio Pagani (1558-1605) who was one of the leaders of that later Florentine school which endeavoured to unite the rich colouring of the Venetians with the correct drawing of Michelangelo's disciples. Allori became one of the foremost of this school. His pictures are distinguished by their close adherence to nature and the delicacy and technical perfection of their execution. His technical skill is proved by the fact that several copies he made after Correggio have been taken to be duplicates by Correggio himself. His extreme fastidiousness limited his power of production, though the number of his works is not so small as is sometimes asserted. Several specimens are to be seen at Florence andelsewhere. The finest of all his works is his "Judith and Holofernes," in the Pitti Palace. 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.