Franciabigio
Illustration — Franciabigio's Portrait of a Young Man writing, 1522, Gemäldegalerie Franciabigio (1482 – 24 January 1525) was an Italian painter of the Florentine Renaissance. His true name may have been Francesco di Cristofano; he is also referred to as either Marcantonio Franciabigio or Francia Bigio.
Also recorded as Francisco di Cristofano · Francesco di Cristofano Giudicis · Il Franciabigio · Francesco Bigi
Franciabigio

Franciabigio · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection · Public Domain Mark
- Died
- 1525 · Florence.
- Occupation
- painter
- Fields
- portrait
- Known for
- Portrait of a Man · Bathsheba bathing · A young man with letter · Blessing of the Baptist by Saint Zacharias · Head of the Madonna · Madonna and Child · Meeting of Christ and Saint John the Baptist
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Illustration — Franciabigio's Portrait of a Young Man writing, 1522, Gemäldegalerie Franciabigio (1482 – 24 January 1525) was an Italian painter of the Florentine Renaissance. His true name may have been Francesco di Cristofano; he is also referred to as either Marcantonio Franciabigio or Francia Bigio.
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Authority files
getty · 500115536 · gnd · 137011059 · wikidata · Q537712 · wikipedia · Franciabigio
In this article
Life and career
Life and career
Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait. Places of work recorded in the authority are Florence. Works named in the authority record are Portrait of a Man, Bathsheba bathing, A young man with letter, Blessing of the Baptist by Saint Zacharias, Head of the Madonna and Madonna and Child. Work by Franciabigio is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Städel Museum, Museum of the Last Supper of Andrea del Sarto and National Museum of Ancient Art.
He was born in Florence, and initially worked under Albertinelli until about 1506. In 1505 he befriended Andrea del Sarto; and by the next year, the two painters set up common shop in the Piazza del Grano. Franciabigio paid much attention to anatomy and perspective, and to the proportions of his figures, though these are often squat in form. He had a large stock of artistic knowledge, and was at first noted for diligence. He was proficient in fresco and Vasari claimed that he surpassed all his contemporaries in this method. It is in his portraits, and not his religious paintings and frescoes, that his painting gathers naturalistic power. As years went on, and he received frequent commissions for all sorts of public painting for festive occasions, his diligence seemed to wane. In 1513, in the cloister of the Annunziata he frescoed the Marriage of the Virgin, part of a larger series mainly directed by Andrea del Sarto, and overshadowed by the latter's masterpiece of Birth of the Virgin. Other artists working under Sarto at the cloister included Rosso Fiorentino, Pontormo, Francesco Indaco, and Baccio Bandinelli. In 1514, he frescoed a Mantegnesque Last Supper for the Convento della Calza in Florence. In 1518-19, at the Convento della Salzo, in another series of frescoes on which Andrea was likewise employed, he executed the Departure of John the Baptist for the Desert, and the Meeting of the Baptist with Jesus. In 1520–21, at the villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano he frescoed a turgid Triumph of Cicero on the walls of the salon, but again he is overshadowed by Potormo's naturalistic lunette of Vertumnus and Pomona. The array of figures appears distraught rather than celebratory, the antique details are a melange of quotations, and the architect a fancy of Quattrocento style. He painted a St Job altarpiece (1516, Uffizi). In the early 1520s, Franciabigio also painted Madonna and Christ Child, a composition that highlights Raphael Sanzio's influence. Scholars note this painting's significance in illustrating naturalism. Various works which have been ascribed to Raphael are reasonably deemed to be by Franciabigio. Such as the Madonna del Pozzo, with its awkwardly muscular John the Baptist; and some of his portraits, including the half figure of a Young Man. These two works show a close analogy in style to another in the Pitti gallery, avowedly by Franciabigio, a Youth at a Window, and to some others—which bear this painter's recognized monogram. For a number of years, Franciabigio maintained the studio with Andrea. Together with Andrea’s student, Jacopo da Pontormo, they decorated the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano, where Franciabigio’s Triumph of Caesar displays his talent for narrative painting. Andrea’s influence on Franciabigio may be seen in the dark, smoky background and the soft, dramatic lighting of the St. Job Altar (1516). The series of portraits, taken collectively, placed beyond dispute the eminent and idiosyncratic genius of the master. Two other works of his, of some celebrity, are the Calumny of Apelles, in the Pitti Palace, and the Bath of Bathsheba (painted in 1523), in the Dresden gallery.
Work and production
Work and production
Works recorded as notable number 7: Portrait of a Man, Bathsheba bathing, A young man with letter, Blessing of the Baptist by Saint Zacharias, Head of the Madonna, Madonna and Child and Meeting of Christ and Saint John the Baptist. His recorded genre is portrait.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1484
Franciabigio was born in 1484 at Florence.
1525
Franciabigio died in 1525 at Florence.
Critical assessment and legacy
When compared to his younger contemporary colleague, del Sarto, Franciabigio appears more sculptural and less forward-looking. The Quattrocento monumentality (or stiffness) of posing is evident in his figures. Franciabigio attends more to linearity and balance in fresco recalling Massacio, while Sarto's paintings reflect an understanding that characterizes Venetian work, and the development of sway that will "mannerize" art in the decades to come. • Illustration — An Unknown Man • Illustration — Young man • Illustration — Portrait of a Youth with Gloves • Illustration — Portrait of a man • Illustration — Holy Family • Illustration — Madonna and Child with Saint John • Illustration — Madonna of the Well or Madonna and Child with the young St. John the Baptist • Illustration — Madonna and Saints
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 137011059, Franciabigio.
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
- Getty Union List of Artist Names 500115536, Franciabigio.
Unverified · The Getty Research Institute
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q537712: Franciabigio
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Franciabigio”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 137011059, Franciabigio.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedauthority file
Getty Union List of Artist Names 500115536, Franciabigio.The Getty Research Institute
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q537712: FranciabigioWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
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Recognition and collections
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
18,705 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Francesco ZuccarelliArtist
- Francesco ZuccoArtist
- Francesco ZugnoArtist
- Francheska YarbusovaArtist
- Francina Margaretha van HuysumArtist
- Francine AubinArtist
- Francine CharderonArtist
- Francine Van HoveArtist
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