(b San Marino di Valdelsa, nr Florence, 27 Aug 1548; d Florence, 9 Nov 1612). Italian painter and draughtsman. He was trained in Florence by Michele Tosini, a pupil of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, and at 22 was admitted to the Compagnia di S Luca and later the Accademia del Disegno. His skill as a fresco painter of façades earned him the sobriquets ‘Bernardino delle facciate’, ‘...delle muse’ and ‘...delle grottesche’. Surviving examples include the façade of the Palazzo di Bianca Capello, Florence. His six lunettes of the Life of St Dominic (c. 1582–4; Florence, S Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande) owe much to Andrea del Sarto for the clear compositions and individual figures and to the new emphasis on naturalism of Santi di Tito for the narrative simplicity. Poccetti’s progress from small-scale sgraffito decorations to large-scale compositions was aided by drawings supplied by Alessandro Allori. The frescoes celebrating the Capponi family (1583–7; Florence, Pal. Capponi, Sala Grande) refer to some of the 132 tapestry designs of Joannes Stradanus (e.g. Florence, Pal. Vecchio) and to his engraved series of the Medicae familiae. Northern sources are also apparent in Poccetti’s work. The lunettes of the Martyrdom of the Apostles (c. 1585–90; Florence, S Pier Maggiore, courtyard) show the influence of Lucas Cranach the elder and Hendrik Goltzius. Albrecht Dürer’s Small Woodcut Passion (1510–11) inspired the Calvary and Christ Nailed to the Cross (Florence, S Pier Maggiore, vestibule).

• Poccetti, Bernardino
  • Façade decoration, §I, 1: Painting: History and development
  • assistants
    • Tiarini, Alessandro
  • patrons and collectors
    • Florence, §III, 3(iii): Centre of tapestry production, after c 1600
    • Medici, de’: (25) Leopoldo de’ Medici
    • Pucci
  • pupils
    • Lotti, Cosimo
  • works
    • Buontalenti, Bernardo, §2: Architectural work, after 1570
    • Cecco Bravo
    • Cloister, §3: Painting
    • Czech Republic, §IX, 2: Other hardstones
    • Florence, §IV, 1(i)(b): Cathedral sculpture
    • Florence, §IV, 9(ii): Palazzo Pitti decoration
    • Florence, §IV, 9(iii): Palazzo Pitti: Boboli Gardens
    • Florence, §V, 1: Accademia del Disegno
    • Livorno
    • Massari, Lucio