Background
Arcangela Paladini was the daughter of Florentine painter Filippo Paladini (1544-1616), a pupil of Alessandro Allori (1535-1607).
Arcangela Paladini was the daughter of Florentine painter Filippo Paladini (1544-1616), a pupil of Alessandro Allori (1535-1607).
Paladini was a contemporary of Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1656). She may have served as the model for an image of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, painted by Artemisia. After moving from Pisa to Florence in 1615, she began working under acclaimed Mannerist painter Jacopo Ligozzi.
She initially lived in the monastery of Saint Agatha, where she was supported by the Grand Duchess Maria Maddalena de" Medici, who later became her main benefactor.
At age 17, at the suggestion of the Grand Duchess, Paladini married Antwerp-born tapestry-maker January Broomans. In 1621, Paladini painted a self-portrait for Maria Maddalena, who displayed the painting in her own room.
The portrait was later added to the collection displayed in the Vasari Corridor and was restored in 1967. lieutenant is the only painting currently identified by the artist.
Paladini died in Florence in 1622 and was buried in the church of Santa Felicità where the Grand Duchess commissioned a tomb memorial, a rare honor.
The tomb was sculpted by Agostino Bugiardini and Antonio Novelli. The epitaph compares Paladini to the goddess Athena and the painter Apelles. In 2004 Roman theater director Alberto Macchi published a play he wrote inspired by Paladini’s life story.