Bartolome Carducho

Bartolomé Carducho, born Bartolomeo Carducci, was a Florentine painter who made his career at the Spanish court. His religious scenes are clear and carefully drawn in the late Florentine manner, with quiet colour and balanced groups of figures.

He was born in Florence in 1560 and studied architecture and sculpture with Bartolomeo Ammannati and painting with Federico Zuccari, whom he helped on the Last Judgment in the dome of Florence Cathedral. He followed Zuccari to Spain to work at the Escorial, where he painted the ceiling of the library, and stayed, becoming chief painter to Philip III. His brother Vincenzo succeeded him. His Descent from the Cross and Last Supper are in the Prado. He died in Spain in 1608.

In Descent from the Cross, look at the careful, orderly arrangement of the figures around the body of Christ.