Bacchiacca

Bacchiacca, born Francesco Ubertini, painted small, jewel-like pictures crowded with figures in exotic costume, carefully observed plants and animals, and fanciful landscapes. His work is colourful and inventive, mixing Florentine drawing with motifs borrowed from Northern European prints.

Born in Florence, he trained in the workshop of Perugino and worked alongside Andrea del Sarto and Pontormo. He specialised in cabinet pictures and decorated furniture panels, and later painted larger altarpieces. From 1540 he worked for Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, designing tapestries and painting a study with plants and birds.

His works are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Uffizi. In his biblical scenes, such as the story of Joseph, look at the many small figures and the bright, detailed costumes.