Background
He was born in Florence, on his mother"s side the grandson of a painter.
He was born in Florence, on his mother"s side the grandson of a painter.
Although he was precocious and apprenticed at a young age to Jacopo Vignali, Dolci was not prolific.
"He would take weeks over a single foot", according to his biographer Baldinucci. His painstaking technique made him unsuited for large-scale fresco painting. Dolci was known for his piety.
lieutenant is said that every year during Passion Week he painted a half-figure of the Savior wearing the Crown of Thorns.
In 1682, when he saw Giordano, nicknamed "fa presto" (quick worker), paint more in five hours than he could have completed in months, he fell into a depression. Dolci"s daughter, Agnese (died circa 1680), was also a painter.
Dolci died in Florence in 1686.
Among the best works of this master were the “St Sebastian”; the “Four Evangelists, ” at Florence; “Christ Breaking the Bread, ” in the marquess of Exeter’s collection at Burleigh; the “St Cecilia” in Dresden; an “Adoration of the Magi”; and in especial “St Andrew praying before his Crucifixion, ” in the Pitti gallery, his most important composition, painted in 1646.
