DOLCI, CARLO. - Painter, born in Firenze on 25 May 1616, died there on 17 Jan. 1686. A pupil of Jacopo Vignali and Matteo Rosselli, his manner displays affinities of chiaroscuro taste (livid shadows) and morphology with the works of Furini, to such an extent that he has been regarded as a follower of the latter.
He was precocious in art, and at the age of sixteen painted a masterpiece: the portrait of Ainolfo de' Bardi (Firenze, conte Bardi), which reveals forcefulness of character, breadth of composition, and chromatic sensitivity (the relation between the costume and the luminosity of the background). He subsequently executed numerous paintings of religious subjects (especially half-length figures of the Madonna, the Mater Dolorosa, and male and female saints), of an entirely external piety, in a style composed of crystalline surfaces and affected nuances. Only in 1672 did D. travel to Innsbruck, to portray Claudia Felicita, niece of Cosimo II de' Medici; otherwise he always lived in Firenze. Among his most noteworthy works are: the Madonna col Figlio (Firenze, palazzo Pitti); the Erodiade (Dresda, pinacoteca); the S. Cecilia (ibid.); the Autoritratto (Firenze, Uffizi). - Vedi tav. CVI.