Franciabigio (1484 - 1525)

The greatest wisdom and prudence that a man can possess is to know himself, and to refrain from exalting himself beyond his true worth (Giorgio Vasari)

Francesco di Cristofano, called Franciabigio, was born on January 30, 1484, in Santa Maria in Verzaia. His father, Cristofano di Milano, was a poor cloth-maker, and when he died, the family subsisted on what Franciabigio earned with his brush, which may be why he never married.

Franciabigio painted frescoes, altarpieces and portraits, for which he is chiefly remembered. He died in Florence, on January 14, 1525, most likely of bubonic plague, and was buried in San Pancrazio.

See his biography from Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects.

Paris	Florence	Hampton Court	London	Berlin

See also:

The Vienna portrait, attributed to Franciabigio, and his Madonna at the Well at the Uffizi.

Bibliography:

McKillop, Susan Regan: Franciabigio. Berkeley : University of California Press or: Hacker Art Books, 1974.
Vasari, Georgio: Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, 1538.