Carlo Dolci

Carlo Dolci painted devotional pictures of great polish and sweetness: saints, Madonnas and Christ figures with glowing skin, rich blue and red draperies and eyes turned up in prayer. His surfaces are enamel smooth, and he worked on each detail with great patience.

He was born in Florence in 1616 and spent his whole life there. He trained as a boy with Jacopo Vignali and was painting portraits while still a teenager. He was known for taking weeks over a single hand or foot, and he often painted several versions of the same composition. His works are in the Palazzo Pitti and Uffizi in Florence, the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden and the National Gallery in London.

His Magdalene and Moses show the close, half-length format he favoured. Look at the fine rendering of hair and fabric. He died in Florence in 1686.