Baldovinetti, Alesso (älās`sō bäldōvēnĕt`tē), c.1425–1499, Italian painter and decorative artist of the early Florentine Renaissance. He was probably trained in the workshops of Domenico Veneziano and Andrea del Castagno, whose influence is evident in his early works. These paintings include an altarpiece for the Medici villa at Cafaggiolo and an Annunciation (both: Uffizi). In 1461 he completed the Nativity in the Annunziata. This scene and his decoration of the Portuguese chapel in San Miniato (1466–74) have deteriorated because of Baldovinetti's unfortunate experiments with the technique of fresco. He painted several Madonnas (Louvre and Uffizi) in a serene style. Baldovinetti was considered the foremost designer in mosaics of his day. He also worked in other media such as stained glass, inlaid wood, shields, and coats of arms.

Bibliography

See study by R. W. Kennedy (1938).

Baldovinetti, Alesso

“Madonna and Child,” oil on canvas by Alesso Baldovinetti, c. 1465; in the …

(credit: Giraudon—Art Resource/EB Inc.)

(born Oct. 14, 1425?, Florence—died Aug. 29, 1499, Florence ) Italian artist active in Florence. Little is known of his early training, but his style shows the influence of Fra Angelico and Domenico Veneziano. Both his masterpiece, The Nativity (1460–62), a fresco in the church of the Santissima Annunziata, Florence, and his Madonna and Child (1460s) in the Louvre depict views of the Arno River valley in the background; they are among the earliest European paintings of landscapes. His work, though seldom innovative, exemplified the careful modeling of form and the accurate depiction of light characteristic of the most progressive style of Florentine painting during the last half of the 15th century. He also designed the mosaic decoration over Lorenzo Ghiberti's doors on the Baptistery in Florence (1453–55) and produced designs for stained glass and intarsia.