Cristofano or Cristoforo Gherardi, also known as il Doceno, (November 25, 1508 – April 1556) was an Italian painter of the late-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

period, active mainly in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

Biography

He was born in

Borgo San Sepolcro Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and ''comune'' founded in the 11th century, located in the Italian Province of Arezzo in the eastern part of the region of Tuscany. Situated on the upper reaches of the Tiber river, the town i ...

and also called ''il Doceno dal Borgo''. He was the pupil of the painter

Raffaellino del Colle Raffaellino del Colle (1490–1566) was an Italian Mannerist painter active mostly in Umbria. He was born in the frazione of Colle in Borgo Sansepolcro, province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. Biography He is also called ''Raffaellino della Colle' ...

, in whose shop he encountered

Rosso Fiorentino Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Florentine Redhead" in Italian) or Il Rosso ("The Redhead"), was an Italian Mannerist painter who worked in oil and fresco Fresco ( or ...

and

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

. He painted under Vasari's direction, the one assistant of Vasari's whom Freedberg singles out. In 1536 Vasari invited him to Florence to assist in producing the decorations for the

ceremonial entry The ceremonies and festivities accompanying a formal entry by a ruler or their representative into a city in the Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe were known as the royal entry, triumphal entry, or Joyous Entry. The entry centred on a ...

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

into Florence. The following year, in the reaction after Duke Alessandro's death, Gherardi was among those banished from Florence, so his work for Vasari was confined to projects outside Florence, until his banishment was lifted in 1554 and he was permitted to return. In the long interval he had painted the ''Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth'' for the church of San Domenico, Città di Castello; church decorations in San Sepolcro; and works for the Vitelli, who were long-term patrons. Gherardi, in the two years left to him, assisted Vasari in the ''Quartiere degli Elementi'' in

Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...

. Vasari's main assistant after Gherardi's demise was Jan van der Straat, called Giovanni Stradano.

Selected works

*''Hall of Ceres'',

in Florence *''Allegory of Human Redemption'',

Villa Albani The Villa Albani (later Villa Albani-Torlonia) is a villa in Rome, built on the Via Salaria for Cardinal Alessandro Albani. It was built between 1747 and 1767 by the architect Carlo Marchionni in a project heavily influenced by otherssuch as Gi ...

, Rome *''Visit of Mary to Elizabeth'' (1541–1545) Museum of Augustins de Toulouse *''Helen surrenders to Paris'' *''Assumption of the Virgin'' *''Laborers in a landscape: Allegory of November'' *''Holy family with St. John the Baptist & St. Anne'' *''Holy family with St. Anne and St. Jean'' *''Allegory of October'' *''Old testament sacrifices'',

Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan language, Etr ...

References

* 1508 births 1556 deaths People from Sansepolcro 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Tuscany Italian Mannerist painters {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub