Cristofano Allori

Cristofano Allori is best known for one painting: Judith with the Head of Holofernes, in which a richly dressed Judith looks calmly out of the picture. He painted it several times, and the version in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence is among the most famous Italian pictures of the early seventeenth century.

Born in Florence, he was the son of the painter Alessandro Allori but turned away from his father’s style, studying with Gregorio Pagani and working in the circle of Cigoli. He aimed to combine Venetian colour with Florentine drawing, and his work is warmer and softer than his father’s. As a young man he painted portraits for the Medici court.

Besides the Pitti Judith, there is a version in the Royal Collection. Look at the gold and yellow of Judith’s dress and the careful, lifelike faces.