Federico Fiori Barocci

Federico Barocci painted tender religious scenes in soft, pastel colour, with pinks, blues and pale golds that seem to glow. His figures have a gentle grace, and his pictures move between the Renaissance and the early Baroque.

Born in Urbino, he trained there and in Rome, where he worked for the Pope. After an illness he returned to Urbino and worked there for the rest of his life under the patronage of the Duke Francesco Maria II della Rovere. He prepared his pictures with care, making thousands of drawings and colour sketches in pastel and oil.

His Madonna del Popolo is in the Uffizi, and his Aeneas’ Flight from Troy is in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. Look at the soft, shimmering colour and the gentle faces, which make his work easy to recognise.