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Portrait of Baldo Magini

Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio XVI sec. d.C./ prima metà

The work portrays the elderly Baldo Magini, benefactor of Monte Pio and the Spedale della Misericordia hospital in Prato. In 1524, he had financed the reopening of Monte, plundered in the 1512 Sack of Prato and of which he had become governor, and helped to decorate the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri. The painting is a fine example of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio's portraiture, updated after the influences of Raphael and Andrea del Sarto.

Technical information

Author: Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio
Title: Portrait of Baldo Magini
Date: XVI sec. d.C./ prima metà
Material and technique: Oil on panel
Size: 66x52 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
Second Floor

The work is perhaps a post-mortem portrait as it is meant to be an “exemplary” image of Magini, commissioned in memory of his charitable work for the city. Standing out against the dark background and with the half-length cut of the body, framed between two columns, the image appears to be strictly monumental. Meanwhile, drawing inspiration from Raphael's classicism is the pose of the foreshortened hand resting on the edge of the balustrade, looking towards the observer. By contrast, the iconography, with the black robe and headdress and the long white beard, is based on his Standing Portrait as Prior of San Fabiano, painted by Niccolò Soggi for the canons of Prato Cathedral in 1522.